


Talk to the Hand

by SomebodyAwesomeSauce



Series: Kinaesthesia [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Big Hero 6 - Freeform, Big Hero 6 Spoilers, Follows Movie-verse, For all ages, Gen, Major Spoilers, NO OC'S, No Smut, Not many major changes, Tadashi Lives, Technopathy, Telekinesis, bh6 - Freeform, slight tadahoney, super-powers, technopath!Hiro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-04-24 13:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 40,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4921456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomebodyAwesomeSauce/pseuds/SomebodyAwesomeSauce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who doesn't listen after that's been said? Tadashi survives miraculously but neither brother is the same. Tadashi's near-death has changed them, in ways even Fred thought impossible. When faced with a difficult question, is it better to know, or remain in blissful ignorance? Some things are better left unspoken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tadashi is Here

"I know what you're gonna say." He took his place beside his brother, lowering his voice in imitation. "I should be proud of myself 'cause I'm finally using my gift for something important."

The elder rolled his eyes. "No, no. I was just gonna tell you your fly was down for the whole show."

"Ha ha, hilarious." He exaggerated each laugh and looked away. He looked down. "What?!"  _Zip._  He punched his brother in the bicep.

The elder chuckled. "Ah!" He backed away before relaxing again. He turned a proud face towards the younger. "Welcome to nerd school, nerd."

The younger smiled. "Hm." He briefly considered his next words. "Hey, uh, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you so, y-y'know, thanks for not giving up on me."

The taller nodded as if to say,  _No problem._

A siren sounded in the distance. The brothers shared a look and ran towards the screams.

_Breep. Breep. Breep._

They rounded a hedge and found people running the other way. The Exhibition Hall was burning.

The elder called out to a woman, one of the last to escape. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," she was breathless. "But-but Professor Callaghan's still in there!" She ran some more.

The elder bolted towards the building, the younger following soon after. The younger gripped his brother's sleeve. "Tadashi, no!" he pleaded with his eyes.

Tadashi paused, turning to face his brother. He looked back at the building, then his brother once more. "Callaghan's in there. Someone has to help."

He made his point by shrugging off his brother and running into the building. His baseball cap flew off his head, landing at the younger brother's feet.

He picked up the cap and was about to follow his brother into the flames. He only moved a step before an explosion pushed him back.  _No,_  it seemed to say. _Don't go._ The back of his head made a jarring impact with the ground, snapping forward and cracking his teeth together. He blacked out.

* * *

 

A moment later he opened his eyes and blinked slowly at the ground, rolling onto his back to witness the scene. The heat was unbearable. "TADASHI!"  _His brother was in there._

"Hrnnngh."

A form lay slumped beside him. He looked at the figure.

"Tadashi?" the boy whispered. "Dashi!"

Tadashi's clothes and hair were burned in places as he lay unconscious on the ground. He was still breathing, albeit raggedly.

The younger's vision blurred. "HELP!" he screamed. "SOMEBODY! HELP HIM!" He couldn't stop the tears. "PLEASE! HELP!"

He didn't know how long he had sat there crying for help. Paramedics came and picked them up, handling Tadashi onto a stretcher and questioning the younger brother, checking him for signs of a concussion or other damage. He answered with satisfactory comments, all the while watching Tadashi.

_Please. Please be ok._

* * *

 

_“…Minor burns to the right side of his body, but they’ll heal nicely on their own. Probably won’t even scar.” The doctor – James – smiled encouragingly. His face became serious, but soft, in the next instant. “He seems to have suffered a blow to the skull but, given time, the fractures should close themselves. They were amazingly small, considering the weight of the beam... As of now, we are unsure as to whether-“_

_Hiro glared at the doctor through red eyes._

_“-As to_ when _he’ll wake up. We’ll need to keep an eye on him, maintain him for the time being. It’s up to him to do the rest. He’ll be on a light anaesthetic for the pain; we don’t want him fighting against meds for his consciousness.”_

_James took note of the way Hiro stared fixedly at his brother. Cass shared a look with James, looking the tiredest he’d ever seen her. Shadows laced her eyes and her shoulders were slumped. She held her elbows by her sides, bringing her right hand up to pinch at her lower lip. Her gaze drifted over to her younger nephew. James followed, and allowed a ghost of a grin to tug at his cheeks. Hiro was biting his lower lip, worrying at the thin skin with his gapped teeth. Despite their looks, James could tell that these two were family._

_He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Hiro wince softly, sucking at his now bloody lip. “Hiro.”_

_Hiro looked up at the medical professional._

_“Look, I’m going to be honest with you. These types of injuries can be difficult to predict, and oftentimes they’ll take a turn for the worse.” James hesitated at the boy’s crestfallen expression. “But, if Tadashi is anything like I’ve heard, and I’ve heard a_ lot _of good things, then he’ll be doing his damned hardest to follow you out of wherever he is right now. I suggest talking to him during your visits; I’ve heard that… similar patients… can hear what’s going on around them. Shouldn’t be too hard for him, what with those ears of his, eh?”_

_Hiro sniffed in response, lips pressed thinly together. He nodded once._

_James smiled sadly. “Atta boy. I’ll see what I can do about your visiting hours.” He turned to leave and felt a pull at his arm._

_Cass Hamada had stopped picking at her lip and now had her striking green eyes fixed on his own soft blue. She exhaled audibly before he heard a whispered “Thank you.”_

_James dipped his head in acknowledgement and strode away once she’d let her arm drop back to her side. One last glance in their direction before he turned the corner revealed the woman holding Hiro’s shoulders tightly, kissing the top of his head and rubbing his back as salty liquid wore tracks down her cheeks._

_James absolutely hated this side of the job._

* * *

 

He watched the heart monitor as it displayed a steady beat.

_Blip. Blip. Blip. Blip._

He didn't know much about medical machinery, but Tadashi probably would. All he knew was that Tadashi was alive. That was all he needed.

"Hey. The college called. They said it's been a couple weeks since classes started, but, it's fine if I take my time. Someone's gotta look out for you."

His eyes turned down and he fiddled with the pull string of his blue hoodie. He glanced back at his brother.

"What were you thinking, knucklehead?" he whispered. He watched the slow rise and fall of his brother's chest, the web of tubing sliding along the blanket with each breath.

He pulled the visitor's chair closer to the bed. He reached out and started to play with the strong fingers that lay limp at the side of the railing.

He continued like that for some time; leaning in different poses, fiddling with objects, keeping his gaze fixed on Tadashi. He needed to be there if he woke up.  _When_  he woke up.

And so he stayed.

* * *

 

"Hiro? Sweetie?" He felt a slender hand on his thin shoulder. His eyes slid open to find Aunt Cass gently shaking him awake. "Visiting hours are over, Hiro. The nurses need to check on him."

Hiro slumped out of the chair, back stiff from sleeping in such an awkward position. He looked over at his brother.

Cass watched with a sad smile. "I'll be out here. Whenever you're ready." She left the private room.

Hiro sighed.  _Another day gone._  He slid his thin fingers between his brother's.

"Same time tomorrow?" he smirked grimly.

No reply.

"See ya then." He went to pull away. He was met with resistance.

His eyes widened in disbelief. He turned back to Tadashi, and pulled his hand gently.

The hand pulled back. The  _blips_  sped up.

"Aunt Cass?" he called, both scared and excited.  _Don't leave me hangin', Dashi_.

Cass entered the room once again. "What's up?"

"Look." He moved aside and tugged again at Tadashi's hand. The response was almost unnoticeable; a weak squeeze of Hiro’s hand.

"I'll go get someone." she breathed, half-jogging away.

The heart monitor sped up another notch. "Tadashi? Come on stay with me. I'm right here, Dashi. Don't let go." He tried not to tear up. He needed to stay focused - he needed Tadashi to focus.

He tried to talk to him more. "Aunt Cass is gonna bring someone in, so you better wake up before then, or else, who knows what they'll inject you with." He forced a smile into his voice, hoping his brother would hear it.

The hand squeezed tighter.

Hiro didn't want to hope. Hope only hurt that much more, but he couldn't help himself.

Another machine Hiro didn't recognise started beeping erratically. He glanced over, trying to make some sense of the readings. _Brain activity?_

He was waking up.  _He was waking up._

"Come on Tadashi, almost there. C'mon. You got this."

The heart and brain monitors spiked. Tadashi arched his back and crushed Hiro's hand.

"Hey! Anyone! Nurse! Someone get in here!" Hiro was panicked.  _Hang in there._

Tadashi slumped and started shaking.  _Where's Aunt Cass?!_

As he waited, Hiro realised Tadashi wasn't the only thing shaking. Tremors travelled through Hiro’s shoes and his abandoned plastic cup shook dangerously on the tray beside him, eventually jumping closer to the edge before it tipped itself over, flooding the tray.

_What the-_

The miniature earthquake increased in strength and Hiro found himself fighting to stay calm. His breathing became laboured and it felt like something was compressing his ribcage.

 _Don’t black out, don’t black out, don’t black out,_ he prayed silently, both to the hospital and himself. Since the night of the showcase he had been experiencing minor panic attacks whenever he thought of Tadashi’s condition. In the worst fits he would pass out for indeterminable amounts of time; ranging from a few minutes to a few hours.

"Hey. Tadashi, Tadashi! Calm down! I'm here, okay? I'm here, and you're waking up, and you're okay. We're okay." Hiro assured. _You're okay._

The elder brother seemed to calm at the sound of Hiro's voice. The shuddering slowed and stopped. Hiro blathered on.

"Maybe if you wake up today, right now, you can come home by the end of the week. I mean, they'll keep you for tests and recovery and stuff, but you already know that." Hiro held tight to Tadashi's hand, who gripped Hiro just as firmly.

"Listen to me, Tadashi. I'm here. Come back. This is the most I've seen out of you in weeks, and I'm not letting you go back. You're staying right here." Hiro's voice broke. "Please, Dashi. Stay."

Tadashi gasped and his eyes flew wide, jerking forward slightly with his abrupt shift in consciousness. Upon seeing Hiro, he began to calm down. The beeping machines settled with Tadashi's heavy breathing.

Tadashi swallowed a few times. "Hiro? What happened?" His voice was raspy after almost a month of disuse. "Are we-" he cleared his throat. "-are we in a hospital?" He looked down at himself, taking in the crisp sheets and ridiculous patient's gown. "Why am I..."

His eyes widened as he remembered the night. The heat, the noise. He looked back at his brother. "Are you okay?"

Hiro didn't answer.

"Hiro, are you okay?"

The younger brother breathed a shuddering sob. "Yeah, I am now."

_Tadashi was okay._

"Hiro, I got the doctor! How's he-" Aunt Cass barrelled into the room like a tornado and saw the brothers. Her eyes shone with fresh tears. "Well, isn't that something? Hiro stays here and I miss all the fun." she joked.

Tadashi smiled past the tubes. "Hey, Aunt Cass."

A man in white walked into the room: slightly taller than their aunt, with scattered grey strands throughout his blond hair. The same doctor from the night of Tadashi’s admission – was it James? "Look who decided to wake up." he grinned. "Mister Hamada, how are you feeling?"

"A little hungry. I could really use a donut." Tadashi winked at his brother.

"Wonderful. That's to be expected after what you've been through. I assure you once we complete a few general tests and examinations, we'll get something a little more substantial in you."

Dr James turned to Hiro and Cass. "I must kindly ask you to leave for now. We'll call when we make some progress - who knows, he could be out by tomorrow. We'll keep you updated."

Tadashi smiled at the concerned frown that shadowed his brother's face. "Hey, don't worry about me. I'll just be sittin here on my lazy butt until I get out. I'm more terrified of what Aunt Cass will cook up tonight." He shot his aunt a lopsided smile. "Stay brave, buddy." He gave a weak salute and watched the grin break out on Hiro's face.

Hiro mimicked his brother's salute. "See ya, Lieutenant Lazy." A worried smile pulled down at Hiro’s lips. "Come back soon, okay?"

"You got it. You still owe me for that bot fight bail, so you better think of something good."

"For sure."

Aunt Cass led Hiro away, waving over her shoulder. "Whatever I'm making, we'll have plenty of leftovers. Don't worry." she grinned devilishly as she saw Tadashi roll his eyes at her.

Tadashi was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, this is a thing. Alive!Tadashi. Also, if I didn't say it in the summary I'll say it now: This FF is entirely spoilers for most of the story, except I added in a few concepts and moments. For example, Tadashi is alive. Because I wanted him to be. But the fire still happened. So to recap: please don't hate on the word-for-word dialogue. Just be glad I didn't copy all of it, otherwise this would be so much longer. The dialogue is there just so we can keep up with the original timeline. Also, this is a short chapter. Just to start things off. I have the entire story written out already, and plan to update once a week, maybe Friday nights. That's in Australia time. I sincerely apologise if the movie dialogue bores you, but that's how it's gonna be. At least, in the movie dialogue chapters. I also have an idea for a sequel, but probably won't be able to upload it when I'm finished with this one. This story took me the better part of two weeks to write (holiday time between terms - yay) so there may or may not be a two week break between stories. Sorry for the long A/N, but I just wanted to introduce myself.  
> P.S: The sequel for this story will be original from the beginning.  
> P.P.S: Sorry if I spell things funny. In Straya land, we use 's' instead of 'z' for 'z' sounds.  
> P.P.P.S: I like Tim Tams, don't you?


	2. Copyright

The trip home was mostly silent, neither of them needing to voice their relief.

_He was awake. He would be okay._

Cass switched on her car radio and focused on the road.

A professional, feminine voice spoke clearly. “ _In leading news, a disturbing three-point-nine earthquake shook the city of San Fransokyo tonight. Seismologists are unsure as to what may have caused the shock but, as it packed half the force of the Nineteen-oh-Six, we can be sure that they’ll look into it. Fortunately no deaths have been reported, however many homes will be due for an early spring-cleanout.”_

"You gonna call your friends? They'll want to know, you know." Cass stated.

"Yeah, I know." he thought about the next week - it was sure to be hectic. "I'll call tomorrow." He leaned his elbow on the armrest on the passenger-side door, resting his jaw in his palm. He stared out the window as the streetlamps flashed by, looking at everything but seeing nothing. A couple more minutes passed in radio silence.

"My cooking isn't that bad, is it?" His aunt sounded worried.

"What? No. You run a cafe. Your cooking's great." Hiro gave a closed-lip smile, still looking through the glass. Despite the sleep he had snagged at the hospital, he started drifting off, snoring softly. It had been one of those days.

Cass glanced over at her nephew. He'd been through a lot today. She vowed to try and carry him upstairs when they got home, although he wasn't as light as he used to be. Sometimes she wondered how Tadashi managed to swing his brother around like a pillow.

 _To be young..._  she thought.

She stopped at the intersection as the lights turned red. A thundering buzz sounded from behind her.

_Damn motorcycles._

Hiro's snoring stopped, and he shifted into a more upright position, blinking the sleep away.

 _At least he can walk to bed himself now._  She was relieved; not that she didn't want to carry him, but she was bound to hit his head on something or other.

The lights turned green and the cyclist zoomed by, not slowing even though he had been driving into the red. Cass accelerated, but didn't see what Hiro saw.

A truck blared its horn as it approached from the right. Hiro seized up. The headlights were blinding, so he squeezed his eyes shut. They wouldn't get through in time, he knew.

Tires squealed as Hiro braced for the impact that never came. He opened one eye, then the other.

"What is  _wrong_  with you? Knucklehead!" Aunt Cass honked the horn at the truck they had long since passed.

Hiro let out his pent-up breath.  _That was too close._  They had almost ended up in the hospital the day Tadashi woke up.  _Oh, coincidence,_  he chided.  _Not today._

"Nice driving there, Aunt Cass. I didn't know you could drag race."

"It wasn't me, that idiot went through the red! Honestly, they'll throw a licence at anyone with limbs these days! Back when I was a kid, we actually took courses." she huffed. Hiro could tell she was happy they had made it out alive.

The rest of the drive was spent with Cass rambling in the background about "Back in her day," and "The troubles facing society," and "Teenagers". By the time they'd pulled up to their home, she was seething about how much prices on… well, everything!... had increased since before Hiro was born. She fumbled for her house key and sighed in frustration.

"Where was I going with this? I had a point."

Hiro shrugged and shook his head, thankful that they were home at last. His aunt, taking the silence at some kind of answer, whirled back and shoved the door open, flicking the light switch as she passed.

"What do you want for dinner?" she called around a mouthful of cupcake.

Hiro trudged up the stairs. "I'm not hungry. Goodnight, Aunt Cass."

"Okay sweetie. You going to the college tomorrow?"

"Yeah, maybe. I don't know."

"Goodnight Hiro."

"Goodnight."

Hiro entered his and Tadashi's shared room, kicking off his shoes near his desk. He spotted one particularly pudgy, colourful furball curled up on his pillow. "Come on Mochi. Out."

Mochi glared at him, looking very upset to be woken in the middle of his nap. His eyes switched to sheer terror as the younger boy threw himself on the bed, nearly crushing Mochi. The cat scrambled away from the incoming projectile. He was faster than he looked.

Hiro stuck the landing - which meant he landed square on his back without pulling any muscles - and stared at the ceiling. It had been a long day, and he just wanted Tadashi to come home.

* * *

 

He didn't go to SFIT the next day. He decided to wait the week out and go back when his brother was ready. The hospital had called and informed them that Tadashi seemed in perfect health and was clear to be discharged by nightfall. Hiro was ecstatic at the news.

An hour later Hiro’s phone buzzed. _1 New Message: Nerd Herd_. Hiro opened the text and chuckled quietly; he didn’t need to call their friends anymore.

In the group chat, Tadashi had sent a bedhead selfie with a caption of, _Hiro, where’re my donuts?_ _L_ _._ A single thin tube still trailed into his nose but Tadashi had overcome it with one serious-looking puppy dog pout.

Hiro quickly tapped in a reply. _*mouth full* What donuts?_ An innocent-looking emoji completed the thought. He stared at his phone for a moment and was about to drop it when he saw the torrent of text bubbles.

**_Honey Lemon:_ ** _Omigosh omigosh omigosh! :O_

**_Fredzilla:_ ** _It’s… ALIVE!_

**_Hothead:_ ** _Finally._

**_Probably OCD:_ ** _We were getting worried, man. Welcome back._ _J_

**_Bonehead:_ ** _‘Wow Tadashi, glad you’re not dead and all.’ Thanks GoGo._

**_Hothead:_ ** _Couldn’t’ve said it better myself._

**_Bonehead:_ ** _You didn’t._

**_Hothead:_ ** _Exactly._

**_Honey Lemon:_ ** _GoGo, behave. :/_

**_Me:_ ** _Hello to you too._

**_Honey Lemon:_ ** _Hiro Hamada why didt you tell us?!_

**_Honey Lemon: *_ ** _Didn’t_

**_Me:_ ** _He beat me to it_ _L_

**_Bonehead:_ ** _Yes, blame the comatose guy for telling them first. Well done._

**_Me:_ ** _And perfectly executed too. 5 café points?_

**_Bonehead:_ ** _You win this round… =.=_

**_Me:_ ** _Yes! Well I got what I came for. I’ll leave you guys to your sap._

Grinning in his small victory, Hiro turned off the alerts for the group chat and tossed his phone onto his desk. It continued to light up every time he received a message but at least now it wouldn’t crawl away.

He sighed and spun in his chair, wondering how to spend his day. He eyed Megabot. Maybe he could do some more  _upgrades_. He snatched up the battle-bot and went to search for his tools. The leg segment detached and thumped heavily on his foot.

"Ow! Aah-ssss. E-hah-hah.  _Ow_." He stumbled back to sit on his bed, clutching his injured foot.

A quiet beeping sounded thrice before a soft inflating noise could be heard from the same spot. Hiro twisted around and witnessed the marshmallow-bodied bot try to navigate around the tight space. The robot waddled up to him and raised a giant balloon hand in greeting.

"Hello. I am Baymax, your personal, healthcare companion."

"Uh, hey, uuh, Ba-Baymax. I didn't know you were still ...active." Hiro stated.

"I heard a sound of distress." The robot blinked smoothly. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"Oh, I just stubbed my toe a little. I'm fine." He tried to shrug it off.

A screen lit up on Baymax's torso, displaying emoticons in different stages of distress. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

"Uh, a zero?" He moved to get up off the bed. "I'm okay, really. Thanks, y-you can shrink now." Hiro shooed the bot.

Baymax didn't seem to notice. He bent over and pointed his finger. "Does it hurt when I: touch it?"

Hiro was the one to back away from the gentle giant. "Th-that's okay. N-no touching. I'm fi-agh!" Just his luck, he tripped over his toolbox, getting wedged between his desk and bed. He tugged his hand out from under him, catching his breath. "Ow."

Baymax moved closer and leaned forward, looking more directly at Hiro. "You have fallen." he declared.

"Ya think?" his voice was strained but he still managed to infuse the remark with sarcasm. Too bad robots didn't understand the concept. He reached up and aimed for a high shelf to pull himself up. The universe laughed in his face as the shelf snapped loose. Multiple objects - old toys, battle-bot trophies and figurines - tumbled down on to his head. He grunted as each item made contact.

Baymax finally got to voice his programmed concern. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

Hiro raised his eyebrows. "Zero." he replied bluntly.

"It is alright to cry." Baymax scooped him up in plush arms.

"No, no no no no, no!" Hiro struggled futilely.

"Crying is a natural response to pain."

"I'm not crying." He fumbled out of Baymax's hold.

"I will scan you for injuries."

Hiro pointed aggressively. "Don't scan me."

"Scan complete."

He was exasperated. "Unbelievable." He half-listened to Baymax's medical mish-mosh. He caught on to the last part.

"Diagnosis:" The bot raised his finger. "Puberty."

"Woah, what?!" Hiro stalked around the bot and pulled out the red travel case. "Okay," he cough-chuckled awkwardly. "Time to shrink now."

Baymax listed the changes that came with puberty as Hiro attempted to shove him back in his charging station.

"I cannot deactivate until you say: you are satisfied with your care."

"Fine. I am satisfied with my-woah!" He flopped away from Baymax, landing flat on his face. He gave a petulant sigh with a frown clear on his brow. Something twitched under his bed. "Huh?"

He pulled it out slowly, finding the jacket he had worn the night of the fire. The pocket twitched sporadically, so he extracted the object. "My Microbot? This doesn't make any sense."

"Puberty can often be a confusing time for a young adolescent flowering into manhood."

"No... the thing's attracted to the other Microbots but that's impossible. They were destroyed in the fire." He shrugged it off. "Dumb thing's broken." He placed the tiny robot in a plastic petri dish. It relentlessly  _dinked_  against the edges as it tried to escape. Hiro shook the confusion out of his head and got back to working on Megabot.

In one smooth motion, Baymax picked up the dish. "Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere."

"Oh yeah?." Hiro paid him no mind. "Why don't you find out where it's trying to go?"

"Will that stabilise your pubescent mood swings?"

"Uh-huh. Aaabsolutely." He tinkered with a loose joint.

The door to the cafe  _dinged_  closed. "Baymax?" Hiro ran to the window and watched as the nursebot made its way heedlessly through oncoming traffic.

"Baymax!" He grabbed his shoes and jacket and prepared for the chase.  _Tadashi's gonna kill me._

After a brief conversation - and last hug - with his aunt, Hiro bolted after his brother's project.  _Oh man, oh man._

Although the bot was obviously not made for running, he had the same convenient timing as his creator. He happened to catch every trolley and space in the crowd to steadily follow the Microbot's directions, and Hiro was left to stumble into walls and people.

"Baymax, get back here!" He finally came to a stop in front of an ancient warehouse.

"I have found where your tiny robot wants to go."

"I told you, it's broken! It's not trying to go-huh?" Hiro began but stopped when he saw the Microbot endlessly rolling towards the building, still trapped in the dish. He took a better look at the wreck. "Locked."

"There is a window." Hiro followed Baymax's gaze. Right above them was a half-open panel; their only entrance.

* * *

 

After much shuffling and precaution - mostly on Baymax's behalf - the pair made it inside. Hiro allowed Baymax to re-inflate while he followed the humming of electronics. He couldn't comprehend what he saw.

"My Microbots?" He eyed the almost-full drum as he ran a handful through his fingers. He looked up and discovered so many more  _full_  drums. "Someone's making more." He spotted a pinboard laden with intricate designs and string-paths. A simple image of a red bird within a circle stuck out.

"Hiro?" Baymax had appeared behind him.

"Aaah! You gave me, a heart attack!" Hiro was breathing hard.

"My hands are equipped with defibrillators." The nursebot rubbed his palms together and held them out towards Hiro. "Clear."

"Stop, stop stop stop! It's just an expression!"

_Dink dink dink dinkdink dink dink dink dink dinkdink._

The lone Microbot in Hiro's pocket rattled relentlessly against the plastic. Hiro picked out the dish and watched in confusion.

The sound of rattling plastic increased in volume behind him. Baymax found the source. "Oh, no."

* * *

 

"I am not fast."

"Yeah no kidding!"

* * *

 

Hiro was desperately trying to push Baymax through the open window they had entered through, but there was no time for the balloon bot to deflate. The Microbots rushed at him. The masked man passively watched, arm raised. Hiro backed up and threw all his force into pushing Baymax with his back. He was helpless against the robotic swarm as it spiked towards him.

_No!_

The swarm hesitated. It was all he needed. With a final shove Hiro flipped through the panel, swiftly gripping Baymax's legs. The bots continued their attack with an unimpeded force; enough to push the buoyous body out. They fell.

 _Come on!_  Hiro thought. He didn't want to end his day as a stain on the ground. He felt big arms wrap around him.

He bounced away from Baymax.  _What?_  He turned and found the robot deflating on the ground. His vinyl had been punctured. He picked Baymax up. "Come on, let's get out of here! Hurry!"

He ran, pulling Baymax behind him.

* * *

 

"So Mr Kabuki was using ESP to attack you and Balloon Man?"

* * *

 

"LoW BAaattery."

* * *

 

"Iiii am healthcare! Personal Bay-max!"

* * *

 

"I will scan you now - scan complete!"  _Plop._  "H-h-healthcare."

* * *

 

"Okay, if my aunt asks, we were at school,  _all_  day. Got it?"

"We jumped out a window!"

"No! Q-Quiet! Sshhh!"

"Sssh we jumped out a weeendow!"

"You can't say things like that around Aunt Cass! Sshh!"

"Sssshhhh!"

* * *

 

"I can't wait to hear all about it! Oh and I’m heating up some wings for you."

"WIIiinnngs!"

"Would you be quiet?!"

"Yeah wiiings! Wreeewww!"

* * *

 

Mochi flew up the stairs after Baymax had stumbled in and slid down against a wall.

_What the-_

He watched as the cat settled in Baymax's arms.

"Haaaairy Baby! Hair-ree Bayybieeee."

Hiro joined them upstairs. "Alright, c'mon."

"Healthcare-e, per-personal Baymax."

"One foot in front of the other." Hiro helped Baymax into his charging station.

 _Miss. Miss. Step. Beep._  Baymax slowly re-inflated.

Hiro collapsed onto his bed, twirling his Microbot between his fingers. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Tadashi."

Hiro sat up. "What?"

"Tadashi." Baymax said again.

Hiro leaned forward to get a better view of what Baymax had seen. He found Tadashi sitting on his own bed, watching with a mix of concern and amusement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the copy-pasting guys, but it isn't going to change for the movie-dialogue moments. I already have the entire story written, if you're wondering, so I've decided to post a chapter every 100 hits. Hopefully people are still interested after this chapter.


	3. Discovery

"Oh, uh, hey! Tadashi! I-I didn't realise you were here." Hiro tried putting on his  _casual_  face. “How was dinner? Hey, what did Fred look like when he tried the wings?” His face relaxed more at the hilarious mental image.

"Really?" The elder Hamada smirked. “Well, Honey got some pretty sweet pictures. Mostly consisting of Wasabi trying to drown Fred with the amount of water he needed, and GoGo laughing her butt off. I haven’t seen her laugh so hard in ages. Sometimes I forget she _can_ laugh.” He smiled fondly.

Hiro chuckled. “So that’s what those pics were? I thought you guys were rehearsing for _The Three Stooges._ ”

Tadashi rolled his eyes. “There were five of us, six if you count Aunt Cass.”

Hiro winced. “Oooh, that must’ve made role assignment awkward. Don’t worry though,” he winked. “I’d vouch for you as Moe.”

Tadashi huffed a laugh. “Whatever.” He narrowed his eyes at what Hiro was holding. "What-cha got there... is that one of your Microbots?"

"Uh... uh, yeah. Found it in my pocket. The one that Krei didn't get."

"Right. So... where were you all day? Aunt Cass told me you were at SFIT, but when I called the others... well let's just say they had a different story." Tadashi played with his cap, suddenly taking an interest in how it folded beneath his fingers. He glanced up at his brother.

Hiro looked conflicted. Logic, scenarios and choices all flashed behind his not-so-casual visage.  _Should I tell him?_

The choice was made for him as Baymax spoke up. "We found where Hiro's tiny robot wanted to go."

"Baymax!" Hiro complained.

"Wait, I thought it only worked with the transmitter." Tadashi furrowed his brow and stood, approaching his brother.

"It does." Hiro gave in and began his confession. "We followed it to this old warehouse. Someone'd been making more - there were barrels  _full_  of them - and then... he attacked us." he finished quietly.

"What was that?" Tadashi questioned.

"He attacked us." Hiro stated. "The guy used the Microbots and chased us out of the warehouse."

"What?! Hiro what were you - Did you report him?"

"Yeah, b-but the cops wouldn't believe me. I-I didn't see his face. He was wearing a mask."

"Tadashi, your cortisol levels are rising. This indicates that you are: stressed." Baymax commented.

"No kidding. Some guy attacked my brother after stealing his Microbots!" Tadashi exclaimed bitterly. He ran a hand through his currently hatless hair.

Whirring and rapid  _blips_  could be heard from Baymax's location. Tadashi turned to the sound. "Uh, Baymax? What are you doing?"

"I am downloading a database on stress-induced illness. Database downloaded." The bot turned to Tadashi. "Treatments include: talking about your problems with: close friends, and loved ones. I will contact them now." His friends' faces bubbled up on Baymax's torso.

Tadashi widened his eyes in alarm. "No, don't call them!" He didn't want to get them involved in this.

"Your friends have been contacted."

He face-palmed. "Unbelievable."

Baymax embraced Tadashi.

"Now what are you doing?"

"Other treatments include: compassion, and physical reassurance."

"No, Baymax, it's fine. Really."

"There, there." The nursebot patted Tadashi's head.

He smiled and slipped away. "Thanks, Baymax."

Hiro watched with an approving grin. Tadashi's own project was comforting him.

Something continued to gnaw at Hiro's brain. It clicked. "Tadashi. The masked man... he must've stolen the Microbots and started the fire to cover his tracks!  _He's_  responsible for Callaghan! We’ve gotta stop him!”

Tadashi saw the glint in his brother's eyes; the spark of some dangerous, genius - did he mention dangerous? - idea formulating in that big brain of his. "Hiro, no." He said sternly. "Don't do whatever it is you're thinking of doing. I forbid it."

Hiro smirked. "Really? You  _forbid_  it? Give you a red wig and a skirt, you could pass for Aunt Cass."

"I'm serious Hiro. Whatever the masked man's up to, it's not worth the risk."

"He could be putting people in danger. I call Rules 13 and 3."

Tadashi shook his head. "No. Overridden with Rule 0." They hadn't argued using The Rules in a long time.

Hiro's eyes widened.  _Rule 0_. He waved his arms frantically. "Come with me then, we can both-"

"Hiro, please." Tadashi was sincere. "I can't let you put yourself in danger like this."

The younger Hamada turned away. "Where was Rule 0 when you ran into the fire?" he whispered.

Tadashi reacted as if he’d just taken a step onto hot rocks, shoulders jerking back when the words truly hit home. He looked down. "That... that was different. People needed Callaghan more than me-"

"That’s not true. Don’t you _ever_ say that. You don’t have the right.” Hiro hissed, still facing away from his brother.

“Hiro.” Tadashi began. The way he said it sounded tired, with a definite undertone of _Please Listen_. “Professor Callaghan is – was – one of the most important people in existence. He has helped more people than we could ever imagine meeting in our lifetime.”

He paused. Silence hung heavily in the air and for a moment Tadashi pondered what on earth he was doing. As the thick stillness stretched on, he could feel a lump forming in his throat. No matter how much he tried he just couldn’t fight it. Soft voices fought for attention in a fight for dominance.

_This is what Hiro had to live through for a month? Why are we arguing about this? Why am I trying to justify myself?_

_If we let this go on, it’ll kill us. It’s for the best that we talk about it._

Apparently the blockage didn’t affect his voice. Tadashi spoke up. “The Professor would’ve helped so many more people if I’d just made it in time-“ His voice stopped abruptly. The pressure had increased threefold and was steadily growing behind his eyes. Tadashi took a few slow breaths before continuing. It helped some. “I couldn’t just stand there and watch while knowing that he was in there. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I’d done _nothing._ Hiro please, understand me when I say-“

“I need you!" Hiro yelled, unable to take it anymore. His voice softened. "I need you, Tadashi. I-I ca-can't..." His vision blurred.

Tadashi understood. In that moment, he saw the Hiro that had pleaded with him to stay. His baby brother, who needed him more than anyone. And he needed Hiro. "I... Hiro, I-I need you too. I'm sorry."

He crushed his brother in the biggest bear-hug he could muster. He couldn’t believe that he’d – almost permanently – left Hiro and run _into_ a burning building, and now he was trying to defend his actions. _What kind of brother-turned-guardian_ does _that?_ "I don't want to risk losing you to that scum of a man. There are better, less dangerous ways to do this."

Hiro nodded into his brother's shoulder, smudging tears into the grey fabric of his cardigan. "O-Okay." He breathed. "I won't." He sniffed and pulled away, trying to smile. "I swear if you tell anyone..." he left the fake threat hanging.

"Don't worry, I won't." He drew a cross over his heart with his finger. "Hamada's honour."

A moment passed while Hiro calmed down. Tadashi was relieved that they had been able to get past this so soon. Having been in many fights before, Tadashi knew his stubborn brother could hold one heck of a grudge. Tadashi smiled and ruffled Hiro’s hair.

Hiro grinned and half-heartedly swatted Tadashi’s hand away. "It's too bad." Hiro turned away mysteriously. "I'd already thought of something..."

"Well save that something for another time." Tadashi was glad that they were okay. They were cool.

Hiro turned towards the stairs, heading down.

"Hey, where're you going?"

"I'm just gonna save my idea on some files. I'll be down there for a while."

Tadashi watched him go suspiciously. "Okay, but you better be back before I fall asleep."

"For sure. Seeya." He was gone.

* * *

 

It was getting late, and Hiro couldn't stay awake much longer without something to do. He put his plan into action.

"Ow." he whispered from the base of the stairs. He heard the nursebot inflate and approach him, squeaking softly as it walked.

"I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the trouble, Hiro?"

"Baymax, keep quiet and follow me."

"Where are we going, Hiro?"

"Just, c'mon." He waited patiently for the Baymax to descend the stairs. He led the bot out to the garage.

"Hiro, it is very late. I suggest you get some rest; abnormal sleeping patterns may cause a disruption in your Circadian rhythm."

"Uh-huh, sure. Get in here Baymax."

* * *

Tadashi’s phone buzzed in his pocket, waking him, and he shuffled around to take it out before holding it away from his face. As anticipated, the glare almost blinded him in the dim moonlit bedroom and he squinted while adjusting the brightness of the screen. He blinked a few times before squinting again, although this time he was grinning at who had sent the text.

_1 New Message: Honey._

**_Honey:_ ** _I’m seriously so glad you’re okay._ _J_

**_Me:_ ** _Me too. :P_

**_Honey:_ ** _You’re such a dork._

**_Me:_ ** _I know you are but what am I?_

**_Honey:_ ** _A dork._

**_Me:_ ** _Touché._

**_Honey:_ ** _:P Really though. :’)_

**_Me:_ ** _Same. Thank you._ _J_

Tadashi smiled wider. He was about to send a reply when his phone buzzed in his hand, and a thin banner appeared across the top of the display.

_1 New Message: Nerd Herd._

Tadashi tapped onto the message as a barrage of messages assaulted his inbox.

**_Fredley:_ ** _Sup dude? You good? Why did Baymax text?_

**_Me:_ ** _He just thinks I’m stressed, but I’m fine. I’m more worried about you atm._

**_Fredley:_ ** _Nah, I’m fine. Just needed a couple dozen antacids._

**_Fredley:_ ** _Didn’t die or anything, which is always a plus._

**_Tomagogo:_ ** _Don’t be so sure._

**_Me:_ ** _Yeah, rookie mistake. You’ll be feeling those things tomorrow._

**_Honey:_ ** _So are you guys free tomorrow? We should do something!_

**_Tomagogo:_ ** _This isn’t enough?_

**_Honey:_ ** _No! Dinner was great and all, tell Aunt Cass for me._

**_Me:_ ** _Sure thing._

**_Honey:_ ** _I want to have something bigger! You know, more…_

**_Wan-tiem:_ ** _Bodacious?_

**_Honey:_ ** _Yes!_

**_Fredley:_ ** _Bodacious is my middle name!_

**_Me:_ ** _Fred Bodacious Lee?_

**_Honey:_ ** _Fred bodaciously…_

**_Fredley:_ ** _…invites you guys over tomorrow?_

**_Wan-tiem:_ ** _Is that a question or a statement?_

**_Fredley:_ ** _You tell me._

**_Me:_ ** _Is it up for debate?_

**_Honey:_ ** _No. :c_

**_Tomagogo:_ ** _Why is this a thing?_

**_Honey:_ ** _Because it is!_

**_Honey:_ ** _We ALL happily accept Freddie._

**_Tomagogo:_ ** _Fine. Don’t complain when he’s dumping our corpses in a ditch._

**_Me:_ ** _One: that’s technically impossible. Two: I would just haunt his sorry butt._

**_Fredley:_ ** _That would be awesome._

**_Me:_ ** _And Honey would trap you in an eternal chick-flick marathon._

**_Fredley:_ ** _NOOOOOO! Wait… are there snacks?_

**_Me:_ ** _No._

**_Fredley:_ ** _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!_

**_Honey:_ ** _*ghostfive*_

**_Me:_ ** _*ghostfive*_

**_Tomagogo:_ ** _I’m down._

**_Wan-tiem:_ ** _I’ll be there._

**_Honey:_ ** _For the marathon???_

**_Wan-tiem:_ ** _No, for Fred’s place._

**_Honey:_ ** _Oh, right! Duh me. Me too!_

**_Me:_ ** _I’m up for it. I’ll go ask Hiro if he wants to come._

**_Honey:_ ** _You should! He missed you, Dashi._

Tadashi switched off his phone and blinked a few times, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He got up to check on Hiro’s abnormally quiet side of the room. As he didn’t hear any tell-tale snoring, he assumed his brother was just lying in bed, half-asleep. That wasn’t the case.

A sudden light from Hiro’s desk caught Tadashi’s attention, faintly illuminating a small portion of the ceiling. It was Hiro’s phone, silently receiving the group’s text. Tadashi glimpsed the message before turning on his phone to reply.

**_Wan-tiem:_ ** _Where is the little man?_

**_Me:_ ** _Garage. Being a nerd. I better get him to bed._

Tadashi noiselessly slew down the stairs, deliberately skipping the third step from the landing because he knew it would creak. It was getting really late and Hiro had been… out… all day. He should’ve crashed by now. If Aunt Cass caught him they would get an earful, and Tadashi had some pretty big ears. Hopefully he would get to Hiro before she did.

He jogged around to the garage, making a note to scold Hiro for leaving the rolling door wide open.

The only problem with that was, Hiro wasn’t there to scold.

_Oh, for crying out loud._

* * *

 

Twenty Minutes Earlier:

Hiro stood back, admiring his work. He bowed to the upgraded nursebot. "Yeah!" he celebrated. "Fistbump!"

Baymax looked down at the boy's hand. "Fistbump: is not in my fighting database."

"No, this-this isn't a fighting thing. It's what people do sometimes when they're... excited or pumped up!" He grabbed the bot's large hand and slapped the palm gently. He made the gesture again, and Baymax mimicked it, slapping Hiro's palm back. He repeated the high-five with the back of their hands, then made a fist. They bumped fists, Hiro ending with a vocal imitation of an explosion.

Baymax observed how the boy's hand moved, and copied the gesture. "Bah-a-la-la-la."

"Hey, now you're getting it!" Hiro nodded his approval.

"I will add: fistbump to my care-giving matrix." Baymax confirmed.

"Alright. Let's go get that guy." Hiro nudged the now-armoured stomach and made his way out of the garage. "Come on." He led the way through the empty streets to find the warehouse, Baymax jogging awkwardly behind but managing to keep up. They did not notice their stalkers.

* * *

 

_Boo-crash!_

"Get him Baymax!" Hiro commanded from the relative safety of behind the bot. The warehouse was empty. "We're too late."

 _Dink dink dinkdink._ Hiro extracted the imprisoned Microbot from his pocket.

"Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere." Baymax stated.

"Come on." Hiro held out the petri dish and followed the Microbot's directions. He was so absorbed that he was only stopped in time by the tug of his hood. He’d almost walked straight into the bay.

"Always wait one hour after eating before swimming." Baymax informed, firmly but gently pulling Hiro back onto the dock.

_Dink, dinkdink schweu!_

"Hey!" Hiro reached out but couldn't catch it in time. The Microbot escaped and flew away. He squinted, trying to follow its destination, and found it.

The masked man approached from the fog, riding a wave of Microbots. Before he got too close, Hiro turned and ran behind a crate. "Come on!" he whispered, and Baymax squeaked behind him.

He watched as the figure slid onto the dock, bringing a large chunk of tech behind him. It had the same bird symbol he'd seen earlier that day.

"Your heart rate has increased dramatically-"

"Sshh. Okay Baymax, time to use those upgrades."

The upgraded healthcare companion got into a fighting stance, and was about to attack when they were blinded by a single, strong headlight. It switched off and Hiro's eyes adjusted.

"Hiro, what are you doing?" Tadashi hissed. "Did that conversation before mean nothing?"

"Tadashi! I'm, uh, just out for a walk. It helps with my pubescent… mood swings." he finished uncertainly. A second pair of headlights disturbed the trio. "What now?" Hiro groaned.

"Hiro? Tadashi?" The brothers' college friends exited Wasabi's small van. Wasabi narrowed his eyes. "Is that Baymax?"

GoGo strode up to the nursebot. "Why is he wearing carbon-fibre underpants?"

"I also know: karate." Baymax added  _helpfully_.

Hiro was exhausted. "What are you guys doing here? How did you find me?"

Honey bent down to him. "We followed Tadashi after he contacted us."

"And how did he find me?” Hiro groaned.

Tadashi smiled sheepishly. "Jacket tracker. We'll talk about that later though."

"Dude!" Hiro complained. "Major breach of Rule 3!"

"It was necessary." Tadashi frowned back. "What have you done to my project?"

Baymax waddled forward. "Tadashi has been: stressed and requires: support from: friends, and loved ones."

Hiro was starting to panic. "Okay, but we need-"

"Who would like to share their feelings first?" Baymax offered.

Fred jumped in. "Ooh! I'll go! My name is Fred, and it has been thirty days since my last- Holy Mother of Megazon!"

The others started and watched helplessly as a metal storage container was lifted effortlessly by a black swarm of bots. Behind it stood the masked man.

Fred just had to ask. "Am I the only one seeing this?"

A flash emanated from Honey's phone, obviously irritating the figure. He let the Microbots drop the crate.

Tadashi reached out to grab for Wasabi but Hiro had caught Tadashi’s arm first and was swiftly pulling the elder Hamada away. _He’s not going to make it!_ Shrugging off Hiro’s grip, Tadashi’s eyes never left Wasabi, waiting until the last second to look away.

_No!_

"AAAAH! Oh my gosh, ohhh no!" Wasabi cringed in terror. He didn't feel the pressure and looked up to find what had stopped the container.

Tadashi stood a few feet in front of him, arms outstretched and breathing heavily through his nose. The crate was frozen mid-air. His eyes were as wide as saucers with the combined shock and effort of what he was doing. "Move!" he yelled.

The others gaped, dumbfounded, before Wasabi ran out from under the crate's shadow. It hit solid ground behind him and the group ran for the van but Hiro lagged behind.

"Baymax, get him!" he pointed to their attacker. GoGo grabbed his arm and dragged him with her.

"No, no no no no no, what are you doing?" Hiro yelled.

"I'm saving your life!" GoGo retorted. Wasabi started the vehicle.

"Baymax can handle that guy!" Hiro gestured. He was pushed into the back between his brother and Fred.

 _Thwump_.

They watched in disbelief as Baymax soared through the air and collectively winced as his behind broke through the van's ceiling.

"Oh, no." came the bot's voice. The rear view mirror fell away.

Masked Man was coming at them on his mass of Microbots.

"Wasabi!" GoGo warned.

"Oh, goodbye!" Wasabi reversed the van, swerving around obstacles dangerously.

GoGo was infuriated. "Hamada. Explanation. Now."

The brothers shared a look of confusion before Tadashi spoke. "He stole Hiro's Microbots, he started the fire. We don't know who he is!"

A pillar of black rushed towards the windshield. "Baymax!" Hiro yelled. "Palm-heel strike!"

Baymax complied, the force of the impact spinning the car around so that they were moving forward. The shadowy figure chased them through the street.

"Hard left!" GoGo cried. Wasabi swerved but was able to complete the turn, hitting some trash cans on the way.

Their attacker didn't slow, using the swarm to jump over a bridge and continue his pursuit.

Fred looked out the back in excitement. "That mask... black suit... We're under attack from a super-villain people! I mean, how cool is that?! I mean it's scary, obviously, but still cool!"

Wasabi turned to assess the situation. He didn't see the yellow light.

Hiro groaned inwardly.  _No! We're the only traffic, and you're changing_ now _?_

The light clicked back to green. Nobody noticed.  _How?_  Hiro thought. The lights were automated, on a cycle, they couldn't just change like that!

They sped through the intersection.

"Why's he tryna kill us?" Wasabi leaned out the window and asked the suspect. "Uh, why're you tryna kill us?"

"It's classic villain, we've seen too much!" Fred exclaimed.

Honey interjected. "Let's not jump to conclusions, we don't  _know_  he's trying to kill us."

Fred watched in excited terror as a vehicle soared over the hill via Microbot launch. He cut in. "CAR!"

" _He's trying to kill us_!" Honey screamed.

They continued down the road after narrowly avoiding the projectile. Orange and green flashed simultaneously.

"Did you just turn your blinker on?" GoGo shouted incredulously at Wasabi.

"You have to indicate your turn. It's the law!" the large student proclaimed.

"That's. It." she slammed her gum on the dashboard and pushed Wasabi's seat back, smoothly taking over the controls.

* * *

 

The next few minutes were spent in a heart-attack inducing flurry of Microbots and bright lights. GoGo handled the van coolly amongst the other's screams.

Hiro scrambled to the empty passenger's seat, making room in the claustrophobic back. "Stop the car! Baymax and I can take this guy-ahhh!" He slipped through a missing door and prepared for his face to meet asphalt. Wind rushed past his cheeks.

He was gently pulled back into the seat and the belt brought across his body. "Seat belts save lives." Baymax pointed out. "Buckle up every time."

* * *

 

"What'reyoudoing, what'reyoudoing, what'reyoudoing!"

"Aaaah!"

GoGo maneuvered over the tracks, not hesitating when she sighted the oncoming train.

"Did we lose him?" Honey hoped.

Wasabi started. "Look out!"

A ramp of Microbots formed around them, quickly encasing the van in a tunnel.

"Baymax, hold on!" Tadashi warned.

Optimism and pessimism screamed at the top of their lungs, in the form of Honey and Wasabi.

"We're not gonna make it!"

"We're gonna make it!"

"We're not gonna make it!"

Hiro feared their rapidly closing exit. _Don't_.

The formation of the tunnel stopped abruptly, and the van flew out.

"We made it!" Honey's celebration was short-lived.

The vehicle swerved uncontrollably as it skidded along the San Fransokyo Dock. Albeit GoGo's immense driving skills the van plummeted into the bay. The windshield cracked at its impact with water. They slowly sunk, gasping for a large breath of air. They hit the bottom of the bay.

Hiro struggled with his seat belt while the others fumbled with their doors. He watched as segments of Baymax's new armour where discarded in the billowing sand. He kept trying to unbuckle himself.

Tadashi came to his side, and Hiro gestured to his trap. The elder Hamada made attempts to release him, pulling forcefully at the buckle. Then he stopped. Hiro gave a questioning glance but froze when he saw his brother's expression. It was deathly focused.

Tadashi moved his hand slowly away from the buckle, clenching it into a fist. He uncurled his fingers with a twitch. The buckle exploded.

The strap retracted slowly while Hiro stared in disbelief. Tadashi pulled him out, clearing the way for the others to escape through Hiro's lack of a passenger door. Baymax grabbed them all and they floated swiftly upwards.

The group broke the surface, Honey being the first to speak as the rest were still spluttering like fish out of water. "I told you we'd make it!" she shivered.

Hiro twisted his body to face his brother. "Tadashi, what the he-"

"Your injuries require my attention and your body temperatures are: low." Baymax declared.

"We should get out of here." Tadashi needed the distraction.

Fred grinned in victory. "I know a place."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Rules I mention come from this adorable fanfic I read on someone's tumblr, so please go and read it. I owe them this chapter.  
> /108271793050/rules- of- being- a-hamada- brother (take out spaces, you'll find it eventually. It's the one with beautiful illustrations and an emotional ending, even more so for such a short fic.)  
> You won't regret it!  
> But basically:  
> Rule 0: Hamada Brothers always stay together.  
> Rule 3: Hamada Brothers always trust each other.  
> Rule 13: Hamada Brothers help those who need help.  
> And please, please review. I want to know what you guys think of this; constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.


	4. Confrontation

The group followed Fred blindly, hoping he knew what he was doing. He led the way and they trailed him, squelching miserably in the chilly night. Baymax stayed behind the students and watched as his creator and his brother bickered quietly in front of him.

"Tadashi, what was that back there?" Hiro whispered.

"I don't know, okay? It just... it just happened!" the elder hissed back. "Don't think I didn't notice  _you_."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Really? Playing dumb now?"

"No, seriously, what do you think I-"

"Where are we?" Honey wondered. The brothers looked around at the unfamiliar houses. Fred turned and marched up a staircase that lead to a pristine, grandiose mansion.

"Fred, where are you going?" Hiro shivered.

The English major shot them an  _Isn't It Obvious_  look before he remembered. "Oooooh. Welcome to  _mi casa_! That's French for  _front door_." He assumed.

Honey looked at him sadly. "It's really... not."

"Listen, nitwit," GoGo began. "A lunatic in a mask just tried to  _kill us_. I am not in the mood for any-"

The door opened revealing a well-dressed man. "Welcome home, Master Fredrick."

The group stared at the news.

"Heathcliff, my man! Come in guys, we'll be safe in here." They stood in shock before accepting the revelation. "Give me some." Fred fist-bumped the butler.

The others passed, nodding in greeting and thanks. Baymax stopped and stared at the butler's fist, and knew what he needed to do.  _Bump_. "Bah-a-la-la-la."

The butler raised a brow in surprise.

* * *

 

"Freddie? This is your house?" Honey asked in awe.

"I thought you lived under a bridge." GoGo muttered. Everyone heard it.

"Well technically it belongs to my parents, but they're on vay-kay on the family island. We should go sometime, frolic." He clapped twice and strode confidently through the sliding doors.

"You've gotta be kidding me." GoGo grumbled.

They had entered Fred's room.

Hiro strode dutifully past, Tadashi following cautiously behind.

Wasabi gawked at a particular painting along with GoGo. "If I wasn't just attacked by a guy in a Kabuki mask, I think this would be the weirdest thing I've seen today."

GoGo hummed in agreement.

The painting in question displayed a comically buff Fred, shirtless, and riding on a white tiger with amber wings. Fred held a spear and struck a confident pose, contrasting greatly with the subtle purple sky littered with other planets.

Wasabi continued. "My brain hates my eyes for seeing this."

Hiro plopped down in a chair and grabbed a pen, sketching the symbol he'd seen twice in correlation with the Masked Man.

Tadashi misunderstood his silence. "Hiro? Look, I really don't know what I did back there. I just... and I don't know how you did what you did either. I really want to know though, so, would you tell me?"

Hiro stopped his drawing. "What I did? I don't know what you're talking about." he stated over his shoulder.

The rest of the group had caught onto the conversation. The brothers didn't notice.

"The lights? The tunnel? I  _saw_  you, Hiro. I don't know how you did it - and I know it sounds crazy - but... you controlled them."

Hiro was getting angry. "Are you serious? I think seawater must've leaked into your brain, 'cause you sound pretty crazy, Tadashi. And what about you? How did you... with the container, and the seat belt... just, how?"

Tadashi shared his brother's temper, running a hand through his damp hair. " _I don't know_!" he yelled, gesturing wildly at the air.

Hiro's pen flew out of his hand, cracking the display case behind him. He was stunned.

"See?" Tadashi whispered. "I don't  _know_. All I know is that it saved Wasabi, and it saved you. I... I can't explain it." He noticed the silence and turned to face his friends, who they'd both forgotten were still there.

They stared with a range of expressions, but from their differing faces Tadashi found the most dominant emotion: shock. "Guys?" he asked timidly. Hiro muttered something behind him. "What was that?" Tadashi asked, turning back to his brother.

"You did it before." Hiro looked up at him.

"What... what do you mean?"

"At the hospital, when you were waking up. You started, I don't know, shivering? You were having a seizure o-or something, and... I think you caused that earthquake."

Tadashi could barely breathe. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why didn't I tell you?" Hiro mocked. "Oh, I don't know, maybe 'cause of the same reason I don't believe what you're telling me! I didn't  _do_  anything!" he finished.

The lights flickered, and some of Fred's figurines activated in their cases.

Tadashi pointed upwards. "That wasn't me." he stated.

Hiro was panting as if he'd been jogging. The figurines turned off. He flinched at the quietness. "Bu-But then... the Microbots, and the truck... that was me?"

The elder Hamada was confused. "What truck?"

"Last night when you woke up, Aunt Cass was driving home and-and this truck was coming at us... it wasn't slowing down, and we wouldn't've made it... I wanted it to stop..."

He stopped. The silence was deafening.

"Can I just say, this is crazy awesome."

Everyone turned to look at Fred.

"Come on, isn't it? Unless I'm the only one seeing this..."

"Well, I'd say it's more along the lines of crazy weird." Wasabi shared.

Honey Lemon piped up. "You really don't know what's causing, well, this?" she gestured at the Hamadas.

"No." They both said. They looked at each other, then back to the group.

"That wasn't a thing." Hiro called.

"Trust me, it wasn't." Tadashi replied. He turned to his project. "Baymax, scan us."

"Scan complete. I detect no irregularities in your systems."

Hiro thought for a moment. "Maybe... maybe it only shows up when we do it." He faced his brother. "Tadashi, do your thing."

"What? I can't just-" he saw the look on Hiro's face. It was his idea face. Tadashi sighed. "Fine, I'll try. Try; that's the keyword here." he pointed out. He took a breath and looked around the room, spotting Hiro's grounded pen.  _Small enough_ , he thought.

He focused on the pen, wondering how he should attempt this. He thought that lifting his hand would do it, but it would also look extremely stupid. He tried anyway.

After a minute, GoGo spoke. "Nothing's happening."

"Ya think?" Tadashi replied sarcastically.

Hiro didn't miss a beat. "Try remembering how you felt when it happened."

Tadashi lowered his hand. How had he felt? He'd needed to help. He'd needed to help his friends, and doing this now would help his brother. He closed his eyes and pictured the pen, letting out a breath. Honey gasped. Something hit his cheek.

He opened his eyes and his heart skipped a beat. Trying to stay focused, he watched as the pen floated listlessly in front of him. "Baymax, scan me."

"Scan complete." came the bot's gentle voice. "I am detecting an anomaly in your brain-wave activity. It is centred in your: parietal lobe. It does not seem to be harming you."

Tadashi reached his hand out and let the pen drop into it. He stared at it before remembering why they were doing this. He looked down at his brother's face. It was full of wonder. Tadashi smirked. "Your turn."

Hiro's face fell. "But I don't know how I did it! You did it consciously, at least with the seat belt, but I didn't even know I was doing it those times."

Tadashi knelt in front of him and looked into large, brown eyes. "Come on, knucklehead," he encouraged. "What were you thinking?" Tadashi threw Hiro's words back at him.

Hiro thought on this for a moment before speaking. "Well, I just... I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"Okay, there you go. Focus on that." Tadashi held out the pen to Hiro. "Go on."

Hiro stared at the pen. He observed its shape, its colour, the light bouncing off of it. He concentrated on the terror he'd felt during the chase. He stared at the pen. It remained motionless.

"Nothing." He let out a breath and looked back at the group. "Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it was Tadashi the whole time."

"It wasn't me Hiro."

"Then what was it?"

Tadashi stared off into space as something clicked in his head. "What if it's not the same?"

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever you did, it wasn't the same as me. Think about it. What's the difference between those situations?"

Hiro furrowed his brow, but his eyes widened in acknowledgement.

"You've always been good with technology."

Hiro took a deep breath. "Right. Okay. So what you're saying, is that, my...  _ability_ ," he shivered at the word. "...is related to tech?"

Tadashi smiled in confirmation. "Try it again," he removed a figure from a nearby display case. "With this."

Fred jumped forward. "Hey careful with that! That's a limited edition-oof!" GoGo elbowed him in the stomach.

Hiro stared at the toy for a while. It looked simple enough: lights, moving limbs. Much less complex than Megabot. He tilted his head at the toy.

 _Move_.

The toy twitched in Tadashi's hand and Hiro started, losing his focus. Tadashi put the toy on the desk in front of Hiro and gestured to it.  _Go on._

Hiro looked up in doubt at the group, then back to the toy before him. It stood on two blocky legs and had clamps for hands, with a deep blue coat of metallic paint. He focused. Was it... humming? He tilted his head again. "Do you guys hear that?" he asked.

They listened for a moment. "I don't hear anything, Hiro." Honey sounded concerned.

"Wait, shhh." He held his hand up. He stared at the bot, trying to hear its hum. It was weak. "Hey, Fred? Does this thing take triple-A batteries?"

Fred was stunned. "Uh, yeah, but that thing's ancient. From my dad's old job."

"Uh-huh." Hiro nodded. He picked up the toy and fiddled with its joints, seeing how it moved and determining how it worked. He put it back in a standing pose on the table and stared some more.

 _Walk_.

The toy jolted to life, spinning its clamp hands and flashing a yellow light from its head. It took steady steps across the table, towards the edge. Hiro didn't notice until it walked off. He dove forward to catch it but it stopped falling, and Hiro fell off his chair.

Tadashi had his hand held out from the front of his waist as if he was holding the toy. He smiled and lifted the toy back to the table. It was lifeless once more.

Hiro got up off the floor and laughed, looking at the toy then at his brother. He laughed again, eyes shining in amazement.  _Did they really just do that?_

"Did you scan him, Baymax?" Tadashi asked, not taking his eyes off of Hiro. He watched the childlike glee dance in his brother’s eyes.

"Yes. An anomaly in Hiro's: temporal lobe connected with another in his: parietal lobe. It is on a different level to: Tadashi's. It does not seem to harm him." Baymax responded.

Tadashi nodded sharply. He turned to Baymax. "Could you do a search on these... symptoms? See what comes up?"

"So not necessary!" Fred butted in. "Isn't it obvious?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I uh, I kinda just threw this whole abilities thing in, huh? But, I swear, there will be a better explanation in the sequel! While you wait, enjoy some freshly baked cookies from somewhere. *hangs head in shame.*  
> I hate my brain, and I hate when I can't think of words. It's not Writer's Block, but uh, Synonym block? So sorry for repetitive use of words.  
> I'm sorry for the short chapter. This thing really blew up while I was away! For anyone who doesn't know, I plan to update every 100 views. Next one will be at 400. This chapter was late because of school and such.  
> Also, this chapter always feels risky to me. People will like it or hate it with how blatant it is. Sorry about that. I promise for better writing in the future.  
> Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys around.


	5. Chapter Five: Diagnosis

Everyone stared, waiting for his answer. GoGo had a particular  _Try Me_  look about her.

He pointed at Tadashi. "You're telekinetic, and you," he switched to Hiro. "are a technopath!"

They stared blankly at him.

"They're whats?" Wasabi asked.

"Telekinesis:" Baymax began. "The ability to move or deform inanimate objects through mental processes. Also known as: psychokinesis." He continued with the next definition. "Technopath: one with the ability to influence technology or electronics through mental processes."

Fred held his fist out to Baymax. "Somebody gets me!"

Baymax stared at Fred.  _Bump._  "Bah-a-la-la-la."

Hiro blanched. "Couldn't Tadashi also be a-a technopath?"

Fred waved his arms around. "No, man! See, he can move physical objects, but you can make the connections! Like, if you were to type something. Tadashi could press the buttons, sure, but you could tell the processor to make the figures appear on screen!" He buzzed with excitement. "This is so cool!"

"Wow, Fred." GoGo complimented him. In her own way. "You really are a nerd."

He held up a finger. "Hey. I'm a  _geek_. There's a difference."

"Uh-huh. Sure." she popped her bubblegum.

"How is this possible?" Honey asked.

“We’re on the same page as you guys, Honey. I honestly don’t know how we can do this. It shouldn’t be possible.” Tadashi affirmed.

Hiro grinned up at her, still slightly giddy. "Who knows? There are words for it, so maybe it's happened to other people."

Wasabi frowned at Hiro. "By that logic, maybe there are people out there who can fly!" He threw up his hands for emphasis.

Tadashi grinned devilishly and winked at his brother. Hiro caught it, waiting to see what would happen.

"Tadashi, please put me down."

Wasabi jumped and squealed. Baymax floated gently behind him, upside down. Hiro joined in. He attempted to hack into Baymax's motor functions, but found himself restricted. "Tadashi, loosen up a bit, would ya?"

Baymax bobbed down slightly, then rose to head height. Hiro stood up from his chair and started making heroic poses. Baymax copied him.  _Exactly_. Hiro stopped with the poses and played an air guitar. Baymax copied that too, still floating. His pudgy fingers wiggled with invisible strings, squeaking as they rubbed.

The group stared at the spectacle. "Uh, what are you doing?" GoGo asked.

"What does it look like?" Hiro laughed. "We're having a little fun with this!"

Tadashi grinned and broke out in laughter too. He twisted his hand in different directions and Baymax twirled along with him. The brothers couldn't help themselves. They hadn't  _played_  together like this in years, and it made them feel like children again. They ended their experimentation, wiping tears from their eyes.

Baymax touched down and visibly relaxed. “Thank you for not disrupting my programming.” The healthcare robot blinked once and activated his internal heating mechanism. The college students, excluding Hiro, kept subtle, wary eyes on the brothers and gathered around Baymax. One by one they slumped into his radiating warmth. Tadashi leaned his back into Baymax’s rotund belly, shuffling his shoulders and jostling the others in his attempts to find a comfortable stance. He sighed in contentment.

Hiro got another idea. "Hold up." He sat back down in his chair. "Hyperspectral cameras, huh?" He stared into Baymax's eyes and concentrated.

His vision blurred and flipped, then returned to normal. He clutched at his head. "Woah. That was weird."

Baymax broke in. "Hiro, your body is becoming: very cold. I suggest you enjoy my heating facilities."

Hiro spoke again. "Yeah, okay. Just a sec." He got up to join the group hug, but stumbled and fell. He was dizzy.

Tadashi looked alarmed. "Hiro! You okay?" He rushed to his brother's side.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little... whoozy." He closed his eyes and took a few breaths. Something dripped down his chin.

"Hiro, your nose is bleeding. Baymax, what's wrong with him?" Tadashi fretted.

Baymax looked Hiro over. "Scan complete. It appears that Hiro has: overworked himself. According to the laws of neuroplasticity, Hiro has done too much in too short of a time span. He needs time to recover. I suggest if he wants to exercise his newfound abilities, he should do so slowly; building up the ability like any other muscle. The same goes for you, Tadashi."

"Thanks, Baymax." Tadashi nodded in acceptance. "Hear that, Hiro? Gonna need to tone it down for the night."

"Fine by me." Hiro held his head. A small ache was forming. Tadashi helped him back onto the chair, and he spotted the sketch Hiro had completed. He picked it up. "Does this symbol mean anything to you guys?"

Fred jumped and raised his hand. "Yes! It's a bird!" He pointed at the picture.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "No, the guy in the mask was carrying something with  _this_  symbol on it."

Baymax raised his finger. "Apprehending the man in the mask will improve Hiro's emotional state." he chimed, turning off his heater.

Hiro smiled sheepishly at the look his brother was giving him. It was clearly a _This Will Be Discussed Later_ look.

"Apprehend him? We don't even know who he is." GoGo argued.

Fred grinned mischievously. "I have a theory."

* * *

 

"Dr Slaughter MD?" Wasabi questioned.

"Actually, millionaire weapons designer, Malcolm Chastletick." Fred confirmed.

"The Annihilator?" Hiro read the title of the comic that he and Tadashi were sharing.

"Behind the mask, industrialist, Reed Exworthy."

"Baron von Destruct- oh just get to the point!" GoGo huffed.

"Don't you guys get it?” Fred danced around the curved couch and picked up a remote on the way. “The man in the mask who attacked us is none other than," He flourished the object and swept his arms dramatically. _Click_. The spotless television brightened to a news report of the suspect. "Voila! Alistair Krei." Fred pointed a finger at the screen in triumph.

"What?" Hiro stood in confusion.

Tadashi nodded. "It makes sense. Think about it: Krei wanted your Microbots, and you said no."

"But rules don't apply to a man like Krei." Fred finished for him.

"There's no way," Hiro approached the frozen image. "The guy's too high-profile."

"Then who was that guy in the mask?" Honey asked.

"I don't know," Hiro replied. "We don't know anything about him."

Baymax interjected, proving him wrong. "His blood type is: AB negative. Cholesterol levels are:-"

"Baymax, you scanned him?!" Hiro interrupted excitedly.

"I am programmed to assess everyone's healthcare needs." came the reply. An image of the masked man appeared on his torso next to a list of his health statistics.

Tadashi was one step ahead of his brother. "Yes! Haha, we can use the data from your scan to find him!" He ran a hand through his hair.

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Hiro exclaimed.

The brothers shared a look.

Wasabi voiced his concern. "Are you sure that's not another thing?"

They nodded simultaneously. "More or less." They looked at each other again. "Stop that." Their eyes widened, becoming frustrated. "Baymax?" they both asked.

"This is getting creepy." Honey stated.

"Scan complete. I am detecting a minor irregularity in your: temporal, and frontal lobes. They are emitting at the same frequency. It is not causing either of you harm."

"This is awesome!" Fred punched the air. "Okay, there's only one way to know for sure: ask each other a question that only you know the answer to."

GoGo leaned forward from her seat. “Aren’t we getting a little off-topic here?”

Honey replied with a whisper. “They can’t go home like this, GoGo. They need to learn to control… it… as soon as possible. It would be best if they learn as much as they can about it.” Still, she glanced over at Tadashi worriedly. He, Fred and Hiro didn’t seem to notice the exchange.

The brothers thought on a question. "Got it." They both said. They glared at each other.

"We're not getting anywhere with this." Wasabi complained. "Hiro, you first."

"Okay. Baymax, don't answer this." He turned to Tadashi. "How did we escape the warehouse?" He asked, keeping the memory in mind.

"You..." Tadashi's face switched to concern. "You jumped out a window?! Hiro what-" he paused again, eyes glazing over. "There was no other way out. And Baymax caught you."

"Yup." Hiro confirmed, breathless. "Shoot."

"Alright." he remembered his question, keeping the image in his head. "What was I dreaming about before I woke up?"

Hiro's eyes widened in terror and his legs crumbled beneath him. "Who is that?!" he yelled. "Professor, get outta here, the building's coming down!" he started coughing wildly, the lights and TV flickering with each spasm. He rolled over and started crawling away from Tadashi.

"Oh, my God, I'm such an idiot!" he shouted to the air. He shook his head, ridding himself of the memory, and dropped to Hiro's side.

Hiro collapsed. The TV shut off.

“Hiro!” Honey gasped, standing abruptly. Her breathing hitched. _It was an accident, it was an accident,_ she chanted.

"Hey. Hiro, Hiro! Calm down! I'm here, okay? I'm here, and you're waking up, and you're okay."  _Where had he heard that before?_

Hiro groaned, leaning on shaky elbows. "T-Tadashi?" Tears streamed down his cheeks, but he wasn't sobbing. He held his head. "Geez, what happened to toning it down? No wonder you spazzed out." He wiped his eyes, feeling the tears. "Well this is embarrassing."

Tadashi hugged his brother, glad he was okay. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Hiro. I should've thought of something else."

"It's okay, really." Hiro slid out of the hug, pointing his finger mockingly at his brother. "You know what this means. Rule 458:-"

"Hamada Brothers stay out of each other's head, unless it's an emergency or all other resources have been exhausted." Tadashi finished.

"Exactly." They silently fistbumped.

Wasabi broke in, flustered by the rapid shifts in atmosphere. "Okay, it’s great that you're figuring this out and all, but how do we find the masked man?"

"Uh, you'd have to scan everyone in San Fransokyo and that might take, I don't know, forever?" GoGo said bluntly.

Hiro paced around. "No, nonono, I just have to look for another angle." He spotted the toy he had manipulated before. "Got it! We'll scan the whole city at the same time. I just have to upgrade Baymax's sensor." He glanced at the action figures on the shelf in front of him. "Actually, if we're gonna catch this guy," he turned to his friends. "I need to upgrade all of you."

"Upgrade who now?" Wasabi panicked.

"Hohoh! Okay, I like where this is heading." Fred sang in excitement.

"We can't go against that guy! We're nerds!" Wasabi exclaimed.

"Yeah, Hiro. Right now, only you and Tadashi would stand a chance." Honey admitted timidly. "We want to help but we're just... us."

"No." Hiro assured. "You can be  _way_  more." He stood on the couch for emphasis.

GoGo turned to him. "Professor Callaghan was a brilliant guy." She gauged the response of the group and sought Tadashi’s hesitant approval before nodding. "We're in."

Fred jumped up. "Can you feel it? You guys can feel this? Our origin story begins. We're gonna be superheros!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do dodo do do do do do, do dodo do do do do do.  
> They say we are what we are, but we don't have to be.  
> I'm bad behaviour but I do it in the best-  
> *Sees the furious glare of viewers.*  
> *Shuts the fudge up.*  
> Again, I'm sorry for this garbage. The swap between topics is too sudden and again, I just tossed in an ability like a rubber ball, hoping you guys would enjoy the idea. So... do you? Don't worry, next chapter is original! *Party Poppers and kazoos blowing in ears*. I know, what a shocker! After four chapters of dialogue, I actually have something I wrote myself?  
> *Hand raises in crowd of viewers.* "That's kind of the point of FanFiction!"  
> *Pause*  
> I know that's the point. :( I feel bad for using the movie as pretty much half my story.  
> Reviews are welcome! Tell me what you think of Teledashi! Haven't seen that concept in many other fanfics, but if there are any out there link them in a response and I'll check it out!


	6. Feel the Burn

Hiro invited the team to his garage the next day. "Arms up." He scanned the group and their forms were replicated on his favourite 3D modelling program. An image he had sketched up earlier that morning enlarged itself on the holographic monitor. "The neurotransmitter must be in his mask. We get the mask, and he can't control the bots. Game over."

He turned back to the monitor and began working vigorously on new designs. Baymax returned to his charging station, falling into sleep mode.

Tadashi watched over his shoulder. "I'm guessing  _this_  was your idea last night?" he smirked.

"Maybe. But not like this." The digital pen flourished across the blueprints, and Hiro's other hand twitched feverishly in front of him.

Tadashi raised his eyebrow as a suit the size of Baymax completed itself on screen. "Hiro, what are you doing?"

"Baymax said I needed to exercise this, get familiar with it. Besides, it's nothing I couldn't normally do. You should practice too."

"What if Aunt Cass catches us?"

"She won't, trust me. She's watching  _The Blob_  with Mochi. They're up to the part where it's seeping through the doors of the lab." Hiro turned to his brother, unfazed by his evident surprise. "And would you mind removing this?" Hiro plucked at his hood where the tracker was placed. "S'not like we need it anymore."

Tadashi stared at the invisible patch.  _He found it? He's that good already?_   _Nothing but my phone should be able to detect it!_ "Sure. Hand it over."

Hiro shrugged off his jacket, flickering his eyes as he tugged the sleeves away. Six more miniature blueprint windows opened up on the screen and began taking measurements of the college students. Once it had finished, the mannequins stopped developing.

"What's up?" Tadashi asked, fingernails picking at the stitches.

"Nothing it's just..." Hiro trailed off. He turned around to face the students who were watching him avidly. They'd been caught staring.

Fred got back to his  _Reptillor_  comic and Wasabi fiddled with a Stanley knife. Hiro's eyes lit up. "Guys? We're gonna have to visit your nerd lab."

* * *

Luckily, no one was in the shared lab space; it was a Saturday, so people decided a little extra sleep wouldn't do any harm.

Tadashi used his spare key to let them in. Hiro glanced around at his friends' inventions.

The wheels on GoGo's electro-mag bike started spinning faster than ever, Wasabi's laser-induced plasma screen lit up, and the weight support in Honey's space - minus four-hundred pounds of tungsten carbide - activated, sparks flying at the raised base. Hiro walked confidently over to it, hair sticking up. "Grab your notes."

Tadashi grinned proudly at his brother's idea. “ _Sneaky little-”_

Hiro turned towards him, pointing an accusing finger. "Hey. Not in front of the kids." he gestured to the team.

"Hey!" Wasabi complained.

"Dude, not cool." Tadashi whined. "458."

"Sorry." Hiro smiled sheepishly. "Still getting used to that."

GoGo ran her hands over the still spinning wheels, savouring the soft burn building on her palm. She loved it. "Hiro, let go.” Her eyes gleamed as she blew a pink bubble.

The wheels slowed down, and the other possessed electronics switched off. The team set about gathering any tools and papers they would need. Fred sat back in his chair and started rummaging around in his piece of organised chaos.

Tadashi turned to Hiro. "So, what now?"

"Just wait." Hiro strode over to Fred. "Can I borrow that?" he gestured to the sign board leaning against his chair.

"Sure, go ahead." Fred shrugged.

Hiro snatched it up and walked over to an open space in the lab. He dropped the sign flat on the floor and waved Tadashi over. "Stand there." He pointed at the sign once more.

"... Okay." he complied. He balanced himself on the middle of the sign, as if it were a skateboard.

"Great. Now lift it."

"Lift it?"

"Lift it." Hiro nodded.

Tadashi shifted his feet on the sign. He thought about its dimensions; thickness, weight, length and width. He could feel the sign tugging at his feet, but he stayed where he was.

Hiro rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I don't see you doing anything." Tadashi defended himself.

"That's 'cause I'm already set." A robotic hand behind Hiro waved.

"Stop showing off." He sent a flick at Hiro's forehead.

 _Thump_. "Ow, dude!"

Tadashi smirked and focused again. This time he took his own weight into account. He felt himself rising on the board.

"Now you're getting it!" Hiro laughed.

Tadashi smiled past the strain. "Am I really that heavy?" He wobbled a bit, losing his balance. The board flipped over and shot to the ceiling. Tadashi landed on his face and the board grounded itself on his back. "Oof."

 _Pop_. "Nice moves, freak." GoGo sorted through her box of discarded wheels, trying to find the sleekest model.

Hiro helped his brother up, then tilted his head deviously at GoGo with narrowed eyes and a manic grin. The wheel she held flew towards him. "Electro-magnetic field manipulation. Good to know." He shot the wheel back to the box. GoGo scowled in light irritation.

Tadashi dusted himself off as a sudden, tinkling impact made everyone wince. It was the sound of childhood terror. "Honey? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just an old beaker." Her heels crunched over broken glass as she went to retrieve a broom.

Tadashi stopped her. "No need." He swept his hand through the air, feeling the smallest shards shiver on the floor. He made sweeping motions and the others listened as the glass gathered in a pile, tinkering along other shards as they climbed. He cupped his hand and the glass formed a small sphere, about the size of a tennis ball. He tossed it into a nearby bin.

Honey smiled brightly at him. "Thanks." She dashed over to her lab, packing stacks of petri dishes full of colourful powders into a box. "All ready!"

Wasabi compressed his project into retractable poles which he carried over to his own box of tools. It was multi-layered, with neat slots to fit attachments of different sizes. "Same here."

GoGo lugged her box full of old attempts of wheels, along with notes scribbled haphazardly on loose paper. "Hey, freak. Catch." she tossed the box towards Tadashi.

He called her bluff, letting the box fall. Before it hit the floor, the wheels slid out of the box and lined up neatly in the air. The box touched down.

"Hey, be nice." Hiro scolded. He settled the wheels gently into the box on top of the notes. Tadashi raised it, along with Honey's box, to shoulder height and headed towards the exit.

A door clicked. Tadashi panicked and dropped the boxes, catching them in his arms and staggering under the weight. He blew out his cheeks with the effort.

Hiro glared at the girl who had entered. "Hey, Sarah."

Sarah looked shocked to see them. "Oh, uh, hey guys. I didn't think you'd be here."

"What are you up to?" he asked.

_“Tadashi wouldn't be here if it wasn't for luck. You practically sent him in there to die.”_

Tadashi glanced over at his brother.  _“Shut up, Hiro. It's not her fault.”_ He was shocked at the bitterness that ran deep in his ‘voice’.

Hiro's eyes widened as he remembered they were linked. His lips tightened into a thin line.

Tadashi huffed and adjusted his grip on the boxes. _“As if that'll help, genius.”_

Sarah picked at her dark blue sweater. "Oh, you know, just checking in on my project. I'll see you around."

The group waved at her as she passed. The silent exchange had not gone unnoticed.

"What was that about?" Wasabi whispered.

"Don't worry." Tadashi assured.

"Nothing." Hiro mumbled.

"Well let's get going then!" Fred pumped his way past the group, holding a pile of comics under his arm.

Hiro took GoGo's box from Tadashi and they headed out.

* * *

Honey worried about what had passed between the brothers back at the lab as they waited for the trolley. They weren't talking to each other, but Hiro mostly made up for it by talking about the suits he had in mind. She thought Fred had picked up on it too, by the way he was staring at Tadashi. That is, until he spoke.

"I gotta agree with GoGo on this one." Fred sighed.

"What makes me so hard to agree with?" GoGo complained. When no one answered, she sighed too. "Agree with me on what, Fred?"

"Tadashi's nickname. Or, even better, his superhero name."

GoGo thought about the names she had called Tadashi over the years. She remembered the most recent. "What, you mean Freak?"

"Yeah. It's got a... well, it's got a zing to it."

"Freddie, that's kinda mean." Honey commented.

"No, it's fine." Tadashi persuaded. "I think it works, don't you? Congrats, Fred. You finally found one."

"Nah, man. It was all GoGo." Fred gestured to the short girl.

She smiled appreciatively. "Well now I need to find an  _offensive_  name for him again."

The trolley approached, and they picked up their loads to get on.

Hiro held his arms out. "Hold on."

An image showing the inside of the trolley flashed through Tadashi's head, along with Hiro's voice. " _Y_ _ou see that?"_

 _“Cameras_.” The image went black.  _“Good thinking_.”

Hiro lowered his arms. "Okay, we can go."

The group shuffled on to the near-empty trolley. Wasabi sat down, resting his box on his lap. "So, what was that about, Little Man?"

Hiro ignored the question momentarily. "How about these comics, Fred?" He picked one up and obscured his face.  _“Follow along.”_  He advised his brother.

Tadashi caught on, picking up a comic and nodding to the others. They followed.

"Why are we doing this?" whispered Wasabi.

 _“We can't have people recognising us.”_  Hiro said.

Tadashi nodded again and was about to relay the message when he saw their faces. They were all pale.

"I'm not the only one who heard that, am I?" Fred asked.

Honey shook her head.

Hiro’s spoke again. _“Guys, it's just me. Calm down.”_

 _“Hiro, they can hear you?”_ Tadashi exclaimed.

 _“I'm letting them.”_ Hiro replied. _“They won't be quiet though, so it's kinda hard to concentrate.”_

Tadashi looked back at his friends, who were all staring silently at Hiro. This was clearly uncomfortable for them. “ _Is this necessary?”_  He asked Hiro.

_“For now. We shouldn’t leave them like this.”_

Tadashi lowered his comic and shared a look with the group. "Calm down." he said simply.

 _“Let me see if this works_.” He concentrated on the link he felt with Hiro, and tried to establish it with the others. _“Can you hear me?”_

They didn't respond. Hiro tried.  _“Were you able to hear Tadashi?”_

"No." Honey replied. "How are you doing that?"

Hiro turned a page of his comic. _“I don't know. It feels the same as when Tadashi and I_ talk _, but it's a bit more difficult. Apparently you can't hear Tadashi. Let me try something. And think your answers, guys. I should be able to hear them.”_

Tadashi felt an empty space billow open in his head. It swiftly filled with voices.

_“Seven intrepid friends, led by Fred, their leader Fred.”_

_“I swear, I'll slap him if he doesn't stop humming...”_

_“What's Hiro doing?”_

_“Stretch gum, between teeth, exhale.”_ GoGo bit the bubble down.  _Pop_.

Tadashi jumped at the sound. The group looked at him funny. He tried again. _“Can you hear me?”_

Honey squeaked and jumped too. "Ta-"

He held up a hand, tapping at his temple.

She understood.  _“Tadashi?”_  Her voice echoed amongst the other's whispers.

He nodded.

Honey kicked the legs of their friends and tapped Tadashi's leg twice when she had their attention.  _“Do it again”,_  she ordered.

_“Can you hear me now?”_

The whispers stopped.

 _“You're doing it too?”_  thought Wasabi.

Tadashi shook his head before realising the comic was still in front of it. “ _No_ , _Hiro's done something. He doesn't know how he's letting us talk like this, but I have a theory –“_

Hiro cut in.  _“You're all... humming. Like, back at Fred's, when you couldn't hear anything. The robot was making this faint humming sound. All your hums are really weak, but it's how I'm doing this.”_

Tadashi took over.  _“As I said, I have a theory. People have immeasurable electrical currents passing around their bodies; it's how nerves send pain signals. My guess is that Hiro is tapping into these_ hums _to allow a connection like this, similar to a radio station taking in and broadcasting signals along different frequencies.”_

 _“Okay, thanks for that, but can we get back to the topic at hand? It's getting hard to keep this up.”_  Hiro accepted a tissue from Wasabi and held it to his nose. Crimson bloomed on the material.

Wasabi paused.  _“Why did I-“_

 _“Later, dude. Let me talk.”_  Hiro flipped the tissue over.  _“We can't have people recognising us if we're going to go all the way with this superhero thing. If they find out who we are, we could all be in danger.”_

Tadashi caught on to the thought.  _“Dangerous people will want to get their hands on Hiro and I. They'll most likely go through you to get us. We need this to stay a secret, alright?”_

A collective nod passed through the group.

 _“I’ve gotta stop. We're here anyway.”_  The space closed in Tadashi's head, cutting off the whispers.

The trolley came to a stop a little ways off from the Lucky Cat. The students picked up their loads and stepped off.

The camera's sight flashed through Tadashi's head again.  _“Don't worry, I didn't break anything.”_  Hiro assured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filler! Fil-ler night! *does Thriller dance*  
> Yeah, filler! But it's original! Promise! Except the first few lines from the start.  
> Unless you haven't watched the movie, I'm guessing most of you know who Sarah is? I'm sorry to any Sarahs out there, but that's the name that came to mind. All you Sarahs reading this are bootiful angels.  
> I feel that Hiro seemed a little OOC, but it might just be his dialogue. To me it doesn't sound like Hiro.  
> As always, thanks for reading. If you’re new to this story, welcome! I hope you enjoy it!  
> Also, is it just me or did the horizontal line function disappear for anyone else? Maybe my brain is more fried than I originally thought, because I can't find the button, so I left the (...) in place of a line.  
> Happy Holidays to everyone, and Happy New Year! Happy everything!


	7. That Darn Cat

The team set up in the garage, with Fred slumping lazily on a red recliner. Hiro described to them the designs he'd worked out for each suit and they got to work on miniaturised versions of their projects. Honey began experimenting with various chemical combinations, recording the results.

Hiro continued modifying the blueprints to personalise the suits as Tadashi watched the team. _“What are we getting ourselves into?_ ” he drew a hand down his face tiredly.

“ _I don't know Tadashi, but check this out_.”

Tadashi leaned on the desk that Hiro was working at. Hiro gestured with a thumb at the screen, and a completed suit maximised from the top-right corner of the six blueprints.

"This is yours." Hiro explained. He adjusted the colour and it faded in. The suit was predominately black with red accents and extremely thick-soled boots. Hiro double-tapped his fingers on a plain section of the desk and Tadashi found out why. From underneath the boots, an extension in the shape of a slim surfboard unfolded with thrusters along the bottom surface. The modelled thrusters activated, bobbing the suit gently.

Tadashi was awestruck. "Hiro... this is-" he was interrupted by the buzz of a 3D printer whirring to life as Hiro rolled away from the desk. He helped Hiro remove each part that the printer spat out before it eagerly began on the next. He was left with an assortment of screws and metal plates lying on the ground.

Hiro turned to Tadashi, already working on the next suit. Without taking his eyes off the screen, he spoke. "I need you to put that together. Don't use your hands. It'll help with your precision handling, and you can get familiar with it, figure out how it works. I'll test it for you. Tell me when you're done."

A monitor beside the printer lit up with the surfboard's blueprints. Tadashi began his assignment.

* * *

 

The sun had almost set. Hiro had created the rest of the team's suits and incorporated their projects into it. He was currently showing Wasabi how to activate his plasma blades and where the safety lock was.

Tadashi removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the contraption. What was he doing? Wasn't there another screw?

Hiro took his silence as a sign. He excused himself and walked over. "You done?" He looked the machine over.

"I don't know, I think so." His head hurt from the smell of metal combined with the immense concentration required for the task. "There's nothing left to put on it."

Hiro nodded. The 3D printer came to life once more and he removed its completed contents. He snapped his fingers at the board and it folded up into two heavy, metal slats.

Tadashi’s eyes widened. _“That's what it was reduced to? After all that?_ ”

Hiro heard his brother's panic and grinned. He attached the slats onto the new items and tapped one with his finger. They extended into two knee-height black boots. "Put them on."

Tadashi complied, slipping easily into the shoes. They fit like... well, like they were made for him.

Hiro nudged one of the boots with his toe and Tadashi felt something reveal itself on the back. He twisted and found tiny kick-starter levers. He smiled.

Tadashi walked out of the garage, knowing the roof would be too low to try this indoors. He stood outside the door and, in one smooth move, pushed down a lever with his left foot, keeping his right foot in front of him.

He watched in amazement as a single thruster on each foot activated, hovering him slightly higher than the boots held him. The rest of the board extended fluidly from the soles and connected in the middle, the thrusters on his feet sliding out to the ends and revealing smaller thrusters along the middle. He rose even higher as each rocket added its force. Two of the small thrusters slid out from between his feet, moving to either side of the board and stabilising it.

The brothers shared a look. Hiro pumped his fist in victory. "It works! I knew it!"

Tadashi wobbled slightly on his board, thankful for the stabilisers. His friends watched in amazement and awe at what the brothers had achieved together.

That's when Cass decided to bring them drinks.

The back door to the house opened and Aunt Cass appeared, balancing a tray dangerously on one hand. "Hey, guys, you've been down here for a while now, so I thought you might want some-" she stopped when she saw Tadashi.

His balance wavered some more as he panicked. “ _She can't get involved in this too_!”

“ _I'm turning it off_.” Hiro warned.

"What are you doing, Tadashi?" Aunt Cass asked curiously.

"Uh, hey, Aunt Cass! Are those sodas?" His feet wobbled as the board split into two, retracting back into the boots. He touched down shakily. He walked over to his brother, leaning on his shoulder. _Casually_. Bad acting must've run in the family.

Their aunt didn't notice. "Yeah, I thought you could use something, working so hard down here all day. What're those on your feet?" she eyed the boots warily.

"Oh these? They're uh, a bit of extra credit stuff! You know, since I finished Baymax early and all, I thought I could work on something else. Hiro here's been helping with the kinks... and stuff." he finished lamely. "I was just testing them." It wasn't a complete lie.

Cass set down the tray. "How long've you been working on those?" She handed some drinks around.

"Uh, I started a couple days after Baymax was finished. Just something I'd been... tinkering with, before we got the next assignment."

Aunt Cass remained silent for a moment before she broke out in a face-splitting smile. "That's my boy! Never resting, you're gonna work yourself to death. I'm so proud of you." she wrapped him up in her small arms. "I just hope they don't end up like Mochi's old boots."

Tadashi hugged her gently back and laughed, moving to take the boots off.

"Last hug."

He stumbled at her sudden weight. "Thanks for the drinks, Aunt Cass."

"No problem, sweetie." She picked up the tray and left.

The brothers relaxed.

"You guys are horrible liars, you know that?" GoGo said.

"Not if she bought it." Hiro shot back.

"No. She's just too gullible for her own good, Pipsqueak."

Hiro rolled his eyes at her. "Who're you calling Pipsqueak, Short Stack?"

Tadashi elbowed his brother. "Okay, break it up you two. _Some people_ ,” he sent a pointed look at a certain blonde, “might take that _the wrong way_." He grinned cheekily.

Hiro blushed, looking away quickly. "Then they would be stupid." came his childish reply.

Tadashi felt an emotion that wasn't his own. “ _No... no way..._ ” he smiled inwardly, sending his glee to his brother.

“ _Tadashi, I swear on all that is Holy, if you tell anyone...”_

“ _I wouldn't stress about it bro. Unless I need a bargaining chip..._ ” he left the conversation with his own threat.

Hiro glared at him. His boots tightened around his feet. "Ow, dude!" He flicked Hiro on the back of his head. The boots loosened, and he slipped out of them, rubbing his feet.

"Leave it alone." Hiro ordered. Tadashi complied, with both the boots and their little exchange. Hiro clicked his fingers again and the boots folded up. At the same time the 3D printer got to work creating the rest of Tadashi's suit.

Tadashi turned back to the group. "Great work today guys. Take those over to Fred's and we'll meet up tomorrow for practice, okay?"

They nodded in agreement, packing up their suits and tech before heading off together. The Hamadas remained in their makeshift lab.

* * *

 

It was getting late, but Hiro continued to tap keenly at his keyboard. Tadashi was slumped on his armchair and drifting some tools around, swatting them away when they would float too close to his face. Aunt Cass had already come in and wished them a good night.

"You almost done?" Tadashi asked, inspecting an old-looking screw before tossing it back into the air.

"Almost. I'm just finishing off some coding for Baymax's sensor." Something sounded off in Hiro's voice, Tadashi noticed.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"About what?" Hiro asked innocently.

"Whatever's on your mind right now. I can hear it."

"We need to work on 458 some more. Maybe give it some sub-sections."

"No, not like that. Something's bugging you, and it's gonna bug me too if you don't tell me what it is." He reached out his hand and ruffled Hiro's hair from a few feet away.

Hiro absentmindedly moved to flick his hand away, before he realised it was just air. He turned to face Tadashi, who sat up straighter.

"Well, it's a lot of things. Just... so much has happened these past three days, and I don't know how this'll affect us. I mean, how long have we been able to do this? How are we _able_ to do this?"

Tadashi thought about this for a moment. "How about we finish up here and talk upstairs?"

"Yeah. Okay." Hiro set the 3D printer to complete the last few segments of a suit and shut off the monitor, following his brother to their room.

* * *

 

Hiro dried his thick hair as Tadashi searched his drawers for clean clothes.

"Do you have any theories? About, how we are?" Hiro asked.

Tadashi pulled a white shirt over his head before answering. "Not really. There are things to consider, but no way of figuring out the truth."

"Come on, you should've learnt something about biology and whatnot when you were programming Baymax. Does anything stick out, any factors? Anything that would contribute to our _abilities_?" He drew out the word. It sounded so _wrong_ , so unnatural. Hiro was a man of Science. None of this should be possible.

"Well, there's the basics. Maybe Mom and Dad passed down these genes. As you said; if there are words for it, then maybe it's happened in the past. Maybe we just have that rare gene."

"But how rare would it be if both Mom and Dad had it? For all we know, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people like us out there." Hiro flopped back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"There's another explanation for how we can... do this." Tadashi stretched into his grey tracksuit pants and sat on the edge of his bed, sliding away the partition to better see his brother. "I'm sure you've heard of 'Evolution in Action'."

"Doesn't that take millions of years to create the slightest difference?"

"Yeah, but maybe it's catching up. Humans have made leaps and bounds in our development and technology. Who's to say that we can't evolve faster too?"

Hiro rolled onto his side, leaning on his elbow. "No offense, but that sounds like the plot for a terrible superhero series."

"It's only bad if you don't like it."

"Anything else?"

Tadashi thought for a moment, then decided that anything was possible at this stage. "Okay, so this kind of branches off from the whole 'evolving' tree, but maybe we've been able to unlock more of our brain's capacity. You've heard all those myths about what humans could do if we used more than ten percent of our brains, right?"

"That was disproven decades ago. Don't tell me you still believe in that?" Hiro rolled his eyes.

"No, of course I don't. I'm pulling at threads here. Besides from the whole genes and evolution, I've got nothing."

"Then there's the next question. How? How do we manipulate matter without having to touch it?" To emphasise his query, he held up his hand. Megabot flew over to stand on it and perform a few tricks, moving fluidly around as his wrist as his fingers twisted.

"Hiro, we do that all the time. How do you control Megabot?"

"With a remote, usually." His eyes lit up. "They wouldn't have rules about this in bot-fights, I bet."

"No, but you'd expose yourself in record time, genius." Tadashi sighed. "How do we use credit cards? How do we play videogames? My best guess right now is that somehow, you're linked into all that. You practically have the world in your hand."

Hiro's eyes widened at the realisation. He formed Megabot into its regular shape, allowing it to drop into his hand. "I guess you're right. But that still doesn't explain you." Hiro sat up on the side of his own bed. "You're not a technopath. How can you move things at will, without physically doing it yourself?"

Tadashi rubbed at his eyes. "That's where I'm lost. We both shouldn't be capable of this, but we are, somehow. I'm as clueless as you are; all I have are theories that we can't prove, not unless we're willing to become human guinea pigs."

The brothers stayed silent for a while before Hiro remembered something else. "And what about _this? How does this work?_ ”

Tadashi jumped at the sudden change in communication. "A little warning next time, if you don't mind."

"I'm serious, Tadashi. We have a semi-theory on how it works with the others, but I don't even need to try when it comes to you. It's as easy as breathing."

"That's what I'm worried about." Tadashi said. "If this 'link' is so simple to use, how do we protect each other?"

Hiro's brow knit together in concern. "What do you mean?"

"Hiro, if we're not careful, if someone... gets to us... what's to stop them from finding us both?" He lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "They would likely do unimaginable things to whoever they had until the other came running. They could torture us, and the pain would be so strong that it crippled the other. If that happened in public, they would easily find the other in no time." He finished.

"They would go through others to get to us." Hiro remembered his own warning from earlier.

"Exactly."

Hiro looked heartbroken. "They already know... we've put them in danger. Tadashi, we're idiots!" A desk lamp flickered wildly.

"Hey, Hiro. We didn't have a choice. Wasabi would be dead, and... " he left Hiro to finish the thought.

“ _I would be too._ I get that, but they wouldn't've found out if I'd stopped the Microbots from working for the masked man in the first place! I had the ability to just wave them away, but it takes us getting chased across the city and almost _drowning_ for me to find out!"

"Hiro keep it down!" Tadashi hissed. Hiro was breathing heavily and shivering on his bed. "Neither of us knew until it happened. Let's just be happy we know now instead of finding out in a less pleasant way."

"You and I must have different meanings of pleasant, if yours is people nearly dying in front of us." Hiro's breath caught. "We could've saved Callaghan." he whispered.

Fortunately, Tadashi had come to the same conclusion earlier. "No, we couldn't have. I'm pretty sure the only way I made it out was by shielding myself during the explosion, and I didn't even know it at the time. You saw for yourself how that worked out."

He saw Hiro shudder, and an image flashed through his head: _He was on the ground, burns all over, and Hiro sat there yelling for help._ Tadashi’s breathing hitched and the vision ended.

"Sorry." was all Hiro could say.

"It's okay." Tadashi stood and sat himself down next to his brother. "All we need to do is learn to control this better. And we're not alone. We're gonna help so many people, Hiro. So many." Tadashi rubbed circles into his brother's back. "Callaghan's death won't be in vain. We're gonna catch this guy, with or without our powers."

Hiro relaxed under Tadashi's strong hand. "Yeah. You're right, obviously." They were silent for a moment longer.

"Tadashi?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks... f-for everything."

Tadashi smiled and wrapped his arm around Hiro. "No problem." He stood, patting his brother's back, before heading over to his own bed and sliding the partition shut. He pulled the sheets over him and closed his eyes, willing sleep to take him. He felt uneasy.

"Tadashi?"

"Yes, Hiro?"

There was no reply, until, "N-Nevermind. Go to sleep."

Tadashi knew what Hiro wanted. He got up and dropped his pillow on the floor next to Hiro's bed, bringing a thick comforter with him. He settled into the new sleeping arrangement. The unease disappeared.

_“... Thankyou_.”

“ _Goodnight_.”

“ _Goodnight_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: For those who get upset at the title of this chapter, I hadn't read 'Different Angles' when I came up with it, and was conflicted as to whether to change the title once I did. But, I didn't, because I felt it conveyed the message that I wanted it to. Leave a review if you're curious about the meaning of titles in this fanfic. Also, read Different Angles by Kaorei. There will be tears.


	8. Monte Carlo

Tadashi couldn't tell who the dream belonged to, but it was the best sleep he'd had in weeks.

In the dream, Hiro watched through the eyes of Megabot as he spun and twisted around his opponent, occasionally catching a glimpse of Tadashi with the controller. The elder wouldn't help unless he knew his brother needed it, usually making Hiro jump out of the way of whirling blades and claws. If he couldn't find a way out, Tadashi was always there to get him out of trouble.

The brothers effortlessly tore through each team of bot and owner. That is, until Mochi placed Aunt Cass in the ring. "Boys?"

They were startled awake, finding their aunt in the doorway. They didn't miss the look she gave them; concern and admiration mixed with a small amount of _I Wish I Had A Camera Right Now._

"Morning Aunt Cass." Tadashi sat up and stretched, keeping his feet on the floor and bending forward at the waist. Hiro rolled over in his bed, kicking the covers off of one leg and twisting his torso in the sheets. He breathed in deeply and exhaled loudly through his nose.

Cass smiled warmly. "Just wanted to let you know breakfast is ready."

"Alright." Hiro mumbled into his pillow. "We'll be down in a minute."

Cass nodded and left the room. Tadashi finished his stretches and pulled himself up using Hiro's bed, leaving his bedding where it was. Hiro began snoring lightly.

"C'mon, buddy." Tadashi flipped Hiro out of his sheets, pulling them away from the boy. Hiro curled up and shoved a pillow over his head. Tadashi felt his brother's pain.

"Hiro, get up. The others'll be waiting."

Hiro groaned and gave in. He rolled onto his back and relaxed, letting the pillow fall away. "There better be bacon." he mumbled.

"There's always bacon." Tadashi grinned, helping his brother out of bed.

They took it in turns to shower and dress. Tadashi pulled on a burgundy shirt with dark blue jeans and black sneakers streaked through with white. He grabbed up his cap from where it sat on his bookshelf. Hiro was dressed in a pale green t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts with black sneakers, not forgetting his now tracker-less blue hoodie.

The boys raced downstairs and as promised, there was bacon. Lots of bacon. Cass had already had breakfast and left to open the cafe. They ate in relative silence, thinking about the day ahead. Tadashi caught on to a thought about a particular yellow suit.

“ _So, GoGo, huh?_ ” Tadashi beamed.

Hiro glared warningly at his brother. “ _Drop it._ ”

“ _You don't even know her real name_.”

“ _I can easily find out_.”

“ _Not if you respect her privacy_.”

“ _Touché_.”

“ _Besides, she's too old for you_.”

“ _You’re suggesting I tell her you said that?_ ” Hiro threatened.

“ _It's still adorable. You would be her Little Man_.”

“ _I'm warning you, drop it_.”

Tadashi smiled through a mouthful of eggs.

“ _Gross!_ ” Hiro broke, trying not to smile himself as he showed off his own mush.

“ _Manners_.” Tadashi scolded, taking his plate to the sink. Hiro followed soon after.

They washed up and headed out, bringing Baymax in his travel case. They made a quick stop at their garage to pick up their own suits before strapping everything on Tadashi's moped and leaving.

* * *

 

It took them the better part of an hour to remember where Fred's place was, Hiro trying to help by showing Tadashi the buildings they had passed a few nights prior. They didn't recognise the path in daylight, but made it there all the same.

Heathcliff greeted them by the front stairs, directing Tadashi to their gargantuan garage. Tadashi thanked the butler and unpacked their belongings, levitating them once he was out of sight. They entered the house through a conjoined door, where Heathcliff was waiting patiently in the hall. Tadashi dropped the load, barely managing to catch Baymax in his arms as Hiro caught the impressive weight of the suits. Needless to say, the beanpole was too small to hold it all. His arms were dragged down.

"Please, Masters Hamada, there's no need for secrecy around here. Since coming into service with the Lee family, I have learnt not to ask questions. I do advise you, however, to be a little less careless. Some people are not as understanding as I." Heathcliff turned his back and began to lead them away.

The brothers watched him go, sharing a look. Tadashi realised Hiro couldn't carry so much, and nor could he for that matter. An active Baymax could lift over a thousand pounds; a sleeping Baymax was some cleverly constructed dead weight. Shoulders beginning to ache, he shrugged and levitated the packages once more, following Heathcliff before they lost him.

"I thank you for your trust in me, Masters Hamada. It means a great deal." He opened a set of large double-doors that led out to a lustrous backyard. Marble statues adorned the carefully trimmed hedges at regular intervals, with old Roman-esque era decor scattered over the grounds. Hiro took it all in with wide eyes.

"Hey dudes! Over here!" Fred waved enthusiastically from where the team sat. Beside each luxurious-looking lawn chair were plastic tubs holding any and all materials they would need for the day, along with their suits. Honey dropped her magazine and ran over to greet the brothers while GoGo nodded in their general direction, turning over the page of her own.

Wasabi pulled his legs over the side of his seat and sat straighter. "Hey."

"Tadashi!" Honey rushed at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Hiro passed them both and took a seat in Honey's vacated chair.

"Hey, Hiro." Wasabi waved, offering him a colourful glass of soda.

Hiro took it gratefully and leaned back. "I could get used to this, Fred. I hope you have some tight security around here." he winked at the English major.

Fred smiled mischievously. "You wouldn't make it past the footpath."

"Challenge accepted." Hiro grinned and took a sip of the bubbly concoction, mentally wincing as the sheer concentration of sugar assaulted his tongue. Definitely Fred’s doing.

Tadashi and Honey joined the group. "So, plans?" Tadashi asked.

"Mostly just practice." Hiro replied. "Time to get used to our gear. You guys brought everything?"

They nodded, Fred looking like his head would fly off at a moment's notice.

"Well? What are we waiting for?" Hiro clapped his hands together. Baymax inflated from his transport case.

Tadashi looked at his brother shamefully. "You're going to break him if you don't let him follow his programming."

"Do not worry, Tadashi. I am fully operational." Baymax stated.

"For now..." Tadashi grumbled.

* * *

 

Everyone but Hiro and Baymax had put on their suits and made adjustments to their gear. While the group waited, Wasabi kept twitching his hand to ensure his blades would activate.

GoGo threw a disc at his chest-plate. "Would you stop that?"

"Hey, you never know! We need to be absolutely sure this stuff works. We can't have it failing unexpectedly!" He turned the blade on his left arm over. "Besides, I think I saw the magnetic confinement acting up... oh well, best twenty-seven out of fifty-three."

"Leave him alone, GoGo. He has a point." Honey cycled through chemical combinations in her head, memorising which reacted with what. The bickering pair turned away from her and Fred started bouncing with boredom. Honey admired the scene before her. _What are we doing?_

While she spaced out, she rested her hand over the edge of her purse, fingers brushing against the side. It wasn't her usual purse. A few bombs flew out of the end, creating a bouncy, slippery mess beside her.

Fred landed on the goo and shot off, face-planting a few feet away. "Fallen hard." he wheezed.

Honey backed away, right into Tadashi. She squeaked, looking up at her captor. He smiled down at her. "I won't tell if you don't." he whispered.

She giggled and took him by the hand. "Who else would it have been?" she asked simply. She threw another bomb on the mess, dissolving it into nothing.

"You know, that mix would be big in the cleaning business." he commented. "Maybe I could put some of that into Baymax. Could help clean up after... troublesome patients."

"Yeah, and eat up their clothes while they're at it." she laughed, rolling her eyes. What he didn't know about chemistry, he made up for in humour.

She admired the way his armour displayed him. Tall, tough and unstoppable, with some red streaks here and there to show off his excitable personality among the serious demeanour that he radiated through the black majority of the suit.

"Hey, lovebirds. Get over here, or get a room." GoGo barked.

They blushed, straightening up and joining the group in an open gazebo with a 'Roman forum' theme. Hiro stood beside Heathcliff while Baymax waited patiently outside of the structure; too large to squeeze comfortably into the space.

"You're not training with us Little Dude?" Fred asked, muffled through his suit.

"Not right now. My suit doesn't have a proper 'combat mode' anyway. It's mostly for protection and convenience." Hiro brought out something from behind his back. "Heathcliff here has generously volunteered to be our test dummy."

The butler put on a crude imitation mask, which he had accepted from Hiro, to cover the top half of his face, making a _Come At Me_ motion with his fingers.

"Remember, for now we're only testing our gear.” Hiro cautioned. “Combat comes later."

The group nodded. Despite his career requiring him to on a regular basis, Heathcliff looked a little more tense than usual.

The corner of Hiro’s mouth pulled up in a crooked smile. "Who's up first?"

* * *

 

Honey walked forward with some encouragement from Hiro. He gestured politely to their replacement 'Yokai'; Fred had intoned, and it stuck.

She glanced over at her classmates who watched with supportive smiles. GoGo raised her eyebrows, popping a bubble.

Honey tapped cautiously at the keyboard of her bag, holding her hand out of the 'completion' end. A honeycomb-coloured ball landed in her palm. She looked back at her target, raising her arm high. _I don't need to throw it so hard_. She lowered her arm to shoulder height and tossed the ball weakly at Heathcliff’s feet. _Don't eat his pants, don't eat his pants, don't eat his pants, don't eat his pants!_ she chanted as the pinkish-blue goo climbed up his legs. The concoction slowed and stopped when it reached his waist.

She took a shallow breath in and made her way over. She lifted the mask slowly, making sure he was okay. He gave her a small smile, and she hugged him, laughing.

Honey's suit was working.

* * *

 

She sat at the bottom of the stairs, attaching the second disk to her ankle. _Couldn't think of an easier setup?_ she growled inwardly as Hiro pulled her up. Just as she thought; the wheels allowed her no traction, feet slipping out from beneath her. He moved to help her but she held up a hand. _Wait_. He backed away, arms raised and palms out in agreeable defeat.

She stood up again and pushed off with her right leg, slowly gaining speed. She completed a few circuits around the target, grabbing up the hose on the third round. _The speed_. The world spun as she restrained the target, snatching off the mask when she was done. She stopped smoothly and tossed the mask to Hiro.

GoGo's suit was working.

* * *

 

Fred buzzed with excitement at the opportunity to fully test his newest suit. Hiro held out the top - or rather, the third eye - that would act as both a helmet and visor. He jumped into it, Hiro dropping it calmly at the peak of the short leap.

Fred dropped and jumped again. "Super Jump!" His stomach seized up at the sudden change in altitude as he rose, then dropped again. He became giddy with the rush. He bounced again, rising higher than the roof of his mansion. "Super Jump!" he yelled at the peak, releasing flames into the air as he spun.

He bounced over to the target, surrounding him in half of a ring of flame. "I breathe fire!" He bounced again. "I breathe fire!" He completed the trap, landing in the centre. He wiggled his claws and pinched the mask between them, swiping the plastic smoothly as he soared away.

Fred's suit was working.

* * *

 

He switched his blades on and looked uncertainly at Hiro.

Hiro made a _You’ve Got This_ motion and jogged over to Heathcliff's side. The butler activated the machine, sending a tennis ball at Wasabi’s face.

"Woah!" he brought his arms up to shield his head, accidently slicing the projectile in half. He looked at the smouldering edges. _Oh, yeah_. he thought. He looked back at Heathcliff, who had stepped further away from the machine. Hiro stood in his place with a maniacal grin.

Wasabi's eyes widened.

Hiro hefted an invisible machine gun and made a reloading gesture, pulling back an unseeable clip. His left index finger twitched, firing tennis balls at Wasabi at an impossible rate.

Wasabi jumped into action. He cut, sliced and swung his way through the line of fire, not once getting hit. His psychotic precision had finally come in handy.

He gave a brief battle cry and leaped, cutting the machine in two as he landed. He swooned back up, deactivating a blade and flicking Heathcliff’s mask off. Hiro was at his side, grinning apologetically. Wasabi shook his head and moved to high five the boy with his free hand, acting quickly when he saw blue flash by his head. His hand twitched and he smiled, tapping Hiro's palm.

Wasabi's suit was working.

* * *

 

Fred was bouncing again. "Wohoo!"

"I love it!" Honey exclaimed.

"Not bad." GoGo threw a disc and caught it.

"Anyone else's suit riding up on them?" Wasabi tried to discreetly pull out a wedgie.

Tadashi walked over to them with his visor up. "Anyone seen Hiro?"

Wasabi looked around. "Yeah, where is the little guy?"

"We still need to see what your suit does!" Fred exclaimed, patting Tadashi's back.

"That's why I'm looking for him." he replied worriedly.

Speak of the devil, Hiro rounded the corner. "Hey, Tadashi. You ready?"

"Well, yeah."

"Come on then." Hiro led the way back to the gazebo, the group following close behind. Heathcliff stood in his usual place, mask on and back straight. Hiro pointed. "Get the mask."

"How?"

"Just get it."

Tadashi looked uncertainly back at the team, then to the butler. He held up a hand and caught the mask as it flew through the air towards him.

"Is that it?" he asked.

Hiro snagged the mask from his brother. "No." He turned to Heathcliff and nodded. "That'll be all." The butler nodded and left.

Fred gripped his third eye dramatically. "Come on, man. That was totally lame!"

Hiro ignored him. Tadashi watched as his brother took his place in the centre of the gazebo. "Hiro, what are you doing?"

Hiro raised his arms from his sides. "Fight me."

"Aren’t you gonna put on your armour first?" Tadashi frowned.

"No." He continued to hold the mask. "Put that board to use, knucklehead."

Tadashi stared for a moment, then complied. He lowered his visor and activated his hoverboard, keeping his legs straight. Hiro waited.

Tadashi rose on the board and kicked off, putting the thrusters into action. He flew away from the group and circled around the gazebo in wide arcs. He lifted his front leg and kicked his back, stopping the board before he rushed at Hiro. He only planned to snatch the mask away. He kept his back straight as he approached his defenceless brother, hand outstretched in anticipation.

Hiro mimicked his brother, holding up a hand with arched fingers. Honey screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Not the place, the biscuit. So good. *drools comically*  
> Yes, Rise of the Guardians reference, yes, Guardians of the Galaxy reference.


	9. What We Have To Lose

Tadashi was almost thrown off his board, stopping inches away from Hiro's face. Hiro scoffed in success. "That all you got?" He flicked his fingers to the right, sending Tadashi flying. Before he got too far, the thrusters kicked back in and he righted himself.

He glided towards the group, as mad as a cow on rollerblades. "Geezus, Hiro! What is _wrong_ with you-" He cut himself off when he saw what his brother was doing.

Hiro held up his arms once again and summoned a sea of black. The rattle was deafening as the tech raced to meet his demands. "I was a little busy last night."

The bots encased his feet and raised him up to Tadashi. "Since our suits don't really do anything, I wanted us to have our own practice session. This newer version doesn’t need a neurotransmitter; They’re synced to match my frequency." A stream of bots covered Hiro’s torso and arms, picking the mask out of his grip as they raced towards his head. They made a hood around him so that only his face was exposed. The mask slid over his eyes.

"Combat training begins now." he announced. He pulled the mass away from Tadashi and began circling him. "Come on, Hamada. Let's see what you can do."

Tadashi gasped as he saw what Hiro had become. He'd created a replica of Yokai's body that had the legs fading into the Microbots. He looked down at the others, who stared back in shock. Tadashi understood the message.

“ _They need to be ready for anything._ ” Hiro clarified.

“ _You didn't need to scare them like that. Just look at them! They're helpless!_ ” Tadashi glanced down at his friends in concern.

The space in his head opened and filled with scared whispers. “ _Lesson One:_ ” Hiro pronounced. “ _Be ready for anything!_ ” The space closed, leaving only Hiro and Tadashi. “ _I'll keep this as real as possible._ ”

Tadashi nodded and switched on his comms device. "You heard him guys! Let's go!" He swerved away as a wave of bots rushed him. The team jumped into action.

Honey's fingers raced across her purse and it spat out three colourful bombs which she tossed haphazardly at the base of the black tower. Gel raced up the pillar and dried just as quickly, covering the lower half with ease before slowing down.

Fred clawed his way up the tower, spitting fire as high as it would reach.

Wasabi jabbed his blades into the seething mass, ripping molten holes in the tough metal. Cracks grew in Honey's trap with each stab.

GoGo kept throwing discs at the pillar, knocking away a handful of Microbots with each hit. She stopped after a few attempts. The bots would fall for a second, then draw near to the bottom of the stack, causing others to rise up and take their place.

Tadashi kept trying to grab the mask as he whizzed past Hiro's head but he was shoved away every time by a black wall. Tadashi would have used his telekinesis, but with the constant distraction of avoiding Hiro’s attacks and the thin banner of Microbots holding the mask in place, he figured it would be easier and quicker to physically snatch it away.

The tower began to vibrate, shaking loose Fred's hold. He landed lightly at the base, bouncing a little. The Microbots continued to shake. Wasabi backed away as he realised what Hiro was doing. Tadashi slowed in the air, worrying for his friends.

Honey's trap exploded as spikes erupted from the glass-like material. The spikes emerged nowhere near the team. GoGo raced away from raining debris while Honey created a pink dome that she hid inside. Wasabi raised his arms, sheltering himself with his plasma blades. Fred was fine in his suit, only dodging the larger pieces of rubble. The spikes re-joined the tower.

Hiro looked down at the team. His fingers splayed out, trapping each member under a net of Microbots. They were completely restrained flat against the ground; Honey was gently removed from her bubble before joining her friends.

Hiro opened the space. “ _A good first attempt, but you need to think your attacks through a little better. Leave this last part to Tadashi._ ” The connection was severed and the Microbots went limp around them. They stood up shakily, brushing off stray glass and tech. The remaining Microbots joined the tower.

Four grounded members watched with apprehension as the brothers rose higher into the air.

* * *

 

 _“Be ready for anything? Are you stealing lines from old kung fu movies?_ ” Tadashi jested.

“ _You'd be surprised how much of it matters in a real fight. It's only... a lot._ ” Hiro made a fist and twisted his body to pull a sharp right hook. Tadashi swung around it easily, bringing his knees up to his chest as what he assumed was a left kick swept under him. He reached out and aimed to steal the mask, but the Microbots held strong against the mental pull.

“ _You're no fun, Tadashi_.” Hiro cupped his left hand with his palm facing out, swiftly catching onto Tadashi's hoverboard. He was trapped.

“ _Hiro, this is hardly fair_.”

“ _I thought that was the point_.” Tadashi was getting pulled closer to the black mass. A gap in the tower opened greedily to consume him.

Then he remembered how his boots were made.

He squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, finding the latch that connected him to the board. He found and pulled at it, wiggling it in different directions. He felt something click, and jumped away from the board. He fell.

He twisted himself so that he was parallel to the ground, creating as much wind resistance as possible. The backyard raced up to meet him. His friends yelled into their comms.

"Hiro catch him! What are you doing-" Wasabi screamed.

"Baymax isn't gonna be able to break this fall." Fred warned.

Honey slammed a jelly bomb to the ground. It swelled and enlarged, growing to a size big enough to hopefully absorb the impact, but its progress was slowing. Tadashi was rapidly approaching the opaque blue mass as she screamed in terror. The gang abruptly looked away.

No one heard the impact, and the following silence was deafening.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Fred slurred.

"Me too, buddy." came an unexpected voice.

GoGo's eyes widened in amazement at what she saw. Tadashi rose up from behind the jelly, boardless. He seemed to be standing in midair. He held his helmet in the crook of his elbow, free hand balled and pressed to his mouth. He was extremely pale.

Once he had swallowed and some colour returned to his cheeks, he smiled. "You still think we're being unreasonable, Wasabi?"

A bodily _thump_ sounded from the large student’s position but nobody moved. They were still gaping at their should-be-dead-twice-over friend.

Tadashi’s face scrunched in discomfort. "But you wouldn't _believe_ the wedgie I'm getting right now."

“ _Didn't need to see that_.” Hiro laughed. Relief was clear in his thoughts.

Tadashi shoved his helmet back on. "I'll be back in a bit." He turned around and flew off.

Wasabi came to a few minutes later.

* * *

 

Hiro watched in awe as his brother completed aerobic stunts, twisting his body and looping around. He grinned behind the mask. “ _I knew you could do it_.” The Microbots bristled with pride. _Weird,_ he thought. _They shouldn’t be that sensitive-_

Tadashi sent him gratitude. “ _Well, in this case_ ,” he flew past and swiped off the mask. “ _Thanks for giving up on me!_ ”

Hiro leaned back and let go of the Microbots, falling freely beside his brother. Tadashi panicked for a second before the lightweight bots fell away, revealing purple armour beneath. Hiro looked over at him and smiled, raising his arms while he plummeted headfirst. Baymax skilfully intercepted Hiro's descent and swept his form into a gentle arc before levelling out. The nursebot handed Hiro his helmet.

Hiro pulled his left hand off its magnet, signalling the hoverboard like a loyal dog. Tadashi pulled up and neatly set his boots back in place on the falling board, straightening his legs. The board complied, kicking into high gear as he raced off to join Hiro. “ _Alright,”_ Tadashi stated as he caught up. “ _I guess having superpowers has some perks.”_

“ _You guess?_ ” Hiro laughed. They were now skimming above countless houses, and the few people who occasionally looked up were left in shock and awe.

Tadashi flipped himself upside-down and pulled himself along, facing Hiro.

Hiro frowned in bewilderment. “ _What're you doing?_ ”

Tadashi grinned childishly and tapped Hiro's shoulder. “ _You're it._ ” Before Hiro could hit him back, he flipped himself upright and shot away.

“ _Get back here! No fair!_ ” He patted Baymax's shoulder. "Steady, Big Guy. Let's just take this slow." He adjusted his position, moving his knees onto the lower magnets and looked up. A giant cat statue turned their way. "Up, up, upupup! Thrust, thrust, THRUST!" They rocketed upwards. "Too much thrust, too much thrust, _too much thrust!_ "

The thrusters shut off. They sailed gracefully over a tower of the Crimson Gate Bridge, and descended just as swiftly. "No, no, no, back on, back on, on, on, ON!" _Fwoomp_. Baymax was heading straight towards a truck. "Up, upupup!" Hiro struggled, trying to pull the bot up with his scrawny arms. They barely managed to miss the truck as they swerved up and over the sluggish traffic. They finally got a steep enough angle that they gently bounced off side of the opposite tower. _Dink_. They landed shakily on that tower of the bridge.

Tadashi appeared and hovered above him. "Aw, you afraid of heights?" he teased, making a puppy face.

"No!" Hiro defended, catching his breath. "It would be completely unreasonable to be afraid of moving through the air at high speeds and altitudes while narrowly avoiding certain death! Who would be afraid of that?" Unfortunately his voice cracked at ‘completely’, only adding embarrassment to the sarcastic quip.

Tadashi's eyes sparkled. "Not me, for one. How about you, Baymax?"

"I am a robot. I cannot be afraid." he blinked, confused as to why his creator didn't know this.

"That's what I thought." Tadashi waved, sending the pair off the edge of the tower.

"Oh no, nononono, Baymax!" Tadashi’s laughing chimed through Hiro’s head. Baymax’s thrusters switched on a second before impact with the water, making the younger boy’s stomach want to remind him what his lunch was made of.

Hiro was seething once he had regained his composure. “ _I'm so getting back at you for this!_ ”

“ _You're gonna have to catch me first!_ ” Tadashi sped ahead.

“ _Unbelievable_.” Hiro and Baymax followed along the narrow ripple that was left in Tadashi’s wake, creating an overlapping wave that spread wider from the greater force that propelled the pair. Hiro twisted his neck around and watched the delayed formation of their streak; as broad at its beginning as the fading edges that trailed behind his brother, obliterating the thin boundaries and supplying its own vast funnel. He caught a glimpse of his reflection peeking over a thick, armoured shoulder before the ocean was abruptly overtaken by closely-packed buildings and small, pale-green lawns. Hiro was startled out of his lapse by a high-pitched whistle.

Tadashi had slowed and was gliding ahead and to Hiro’s right. “ _Hey, Bonehead. You’re still it._ ” He waved in a mock-salute and steered away.

“ _Not for long.”_ Baymax leaned into the chase, much to Hiro’s delight. They chased each other through the city, looping over monorail tracks and weaving through skyscrapers. Tadashi easily pulled evasive manoeuvers; disguising himself among a dark banner or behind a building, only to jump out and tag Hiro at a moment’s notice. Hiro soon grew frustrated at the repetition of the stunt, Tadashi finally relenting when Hiro threatened to control Baymax in the pursuit. The trio landed atop a koi fish turbine, relaxed, and watched the sun set.

* * *

 

The soft amber glow of the sky tinted Hiro’s eyes a dark bronze. "That was... that was..."

"Sick."

Hiro looked up at Baymax in surprise.

The nursebot performed a quick scan and blinked when he came to the same conclusion. "It is just an expression."

The brothers chuckled. Tadashi leaned over and tapped the bot's large leg. "Th-that's right, buddy."

Hiro sighed in contentment. "I am _never_ taking the bus again."

Baymax turned to face Tadashi. "Your emotional state has improved. I can deactivate if you say: you are satisfied with your care."

He felt Hiro's alarm almost as if it were his own. "No, Baymax. That guy's still out there. We need to find him." Tadashi hated to admit it, but they still had a mission.

Hiro nodded his agreement and stood. "Baymax, fire up that supersensor."

Baymax stood and scanned the area. "Functionality improved. One-thousand percent increase in range." _Beep_. "I have found a match." He raised one giant armoured arm. "On that island."

Hiro faced the bot's directions, squinting slightly to distinguish the island in the growing fog. "Let's go."

* * *

 

"Killer view." GoGo commented. Honey glanced over at her in an understanding smile before returning her gaze to the city rushing by below them. Fred made a few flying poses, jostling the group with every shift.

"Yeah, if I wasn't terrified of heights, I'd probably love it. But I'm terrified of heights, so, I don't love it!" Wasabi held his death-grip tersely.

Tadashi smiled behind his visor as he flew alongside his new team. They approached the island and Hiro found an opening. "There. Baymax, take us in."

They circled around to a patch of open space, fenced off from the rest of the island. Fred touched down in excitement, having been dropped almost carelessly by Baymax. "Awesome! Our first landing together as a team!" He flipped his helmet up and waved the gang forward.

Wasabi lagged behind, eyes caught by a purposely bright sign. "Quarantine? Do you people know what _quarantine_ means?"

Baymax raised a finger. "Quarantine: enforced isolation to prevent contamination that could lead to disease or in some cases, death." His voice simulation ended on a somewhat chipper note, not exactly helping in the tense atmosphere of their advance.

"Oh, there's a skull face on this one,” Wasabi articulated. “ _A skull face!_ " The group ignored him.

"Be ready." Hiro whispered. "He could be anywhere." They rounded a corner and neared a huge metal door.

 _Crack_.

"AGHHH!"

_Pop pop pop pop._

"Breathe fire! Breathe fire!"

Limbs waved in a flurry of colour before they realised they hadn’t been attacked. The smoke cleared.

"Brororororo?" It flapped away.

They watched it go, Fred's embarrassment covered by his mask. "That... was a bird."

"Well, at least we know our gear works." said Honey. Always the optimist.

Hiro turned and stepped forward, placing a hand on the door and concentrating. "I can't feel anything. I don't think it's connected. Tadashi?"

The elder Hamada took his brother's place. He closed his eyes to better picture what he felt. "There's a handle on the other side. A valve." He placed his right hand over where it was, bracing himself with his left. The fingers on his right hand slowly arched and twisted in a clockwise direction.

Metal squealed in protest as the latch painfully slid out. The heavy door swung open into a long, dimly lit hallway. Wasabi backed away. "Ladies first?"

* * *

 

"Seven intrepid friends, led by Fred, their leader Fred. Fred's Angels. Mh-m-m. Fred's Angels. Mh-m-m. Harnessing the power of the sun with the ancient, am-u-let they found in the attic. Mh-m-m. The amulet is green. Mh-m-m. It's probably an emerald. Mh-m-"

"Fred, I will _laser hand_ you in the _face_."

"Guys! Shh." Hiro crept forward. "Any sign of him, Baymax?"

"This structure is interfering with my sensor." Baymax reported. His head swivelled in small increments but he could still not derive the suspect’s location.

Wasabi rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Perfect. The robot's broken."

Honey stopped, pulling on Tadashi's hand. "Uh, guys?" she said. "You might wanna see this." Tadashi paused and stepped over with her, sliding open the door with his unoccupied right arm.

The room beyond was mostly a huge open space, around two levels high. A mangled piece of technology sat in the centre.

"What do you think it is, Genius?" GoGo asked.

Hiro shook his head. "I'm not sure, but look." He pointed out a red bird that was painted on a large hunk of charred metal.

"Hiro." Honey turned their attention to what looked a control room. They snuck over, tensed for a fight. Baymax smoothly swung open the door.

The room was empty. A giant screen lit up the small space, displaying the same bird symbol with the colours switched; black on red. Hiro spotted the keyboard before him. He hit _Return_.

 _Confidental Information: Password Required_. Hiro waved a hand across the screen, bringing up a wall of code but keeping the waiting textbox locked in the middle. A few symbols from the rapidly-changing wall were caught, highlighted and dragged into the textbox.

 _Access Granted_. Green text flashed on the monitor. _Beep_. The screen split into nine smaller screens. The top-centre screen was frozen on an image of their suspect.

"Krei..." Hiro whispered. He swiped his right hand leftwards over the image, rewinding saved footage. The other black screens lit up one at a time.

 _"That's right."_ Krei's voice sounded when Hiro resumed the video. _"We were asked to do the impossible, and that's what we did. We've re-invented the very concept of transportation. Friends, I present, Project: Silent Sparrow." He waved to a brand new version of what they'd found outside. The portal activated, filling its centre with a fiery blue surface._

_"General, may I?" Krei held out his hand and the General gave him his hat. Krei promptly threw it through the portal. A scientist waiting in front of the second portal caught it and tossed it back._

Fred was taken aback. "Woah, magic hat!"

_Krei caught the hat and dusted it off. "Teleportation: the transport of matter instantaneously through space." He handed the hat back to its owner and strolled confidently down the catwalk. "Not science-fiction anymore."_

_The group returned to the control room. "Now, we didn't spend billions of tax dollars to teleport hats. Ladies and gentlemen, you're here to witness history!" Krei switched on a microphone. "Ready to go for a ride, Abigail?"_

_The pilot - a brunette woman - was entering a test pod. "We've invited all these people. Might as well give 'em a show." The pod closed around her._

_“T-minus thirty seconds to launch. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight.”_

_"Castle is in position."_

_One of the scientists got Krei's attention. "Sir, we've picked up a slight irregularity in the magnetic containment field."_

_Krei furrowed his brow in concern. "Huh..."_

_The General spoke up. "Mr Krei, is there a problem?"_

_Krei turned back to the General. "No, no problem. It's well within the parameters. Let's move forward." He nodded at the scientist._

_“Three. Two. One.”_

_Abigail breathed in slowly, a determined smile setting on her face. She was pushed back by the force of the launch. Her pod disappeared into the portal with a whisper. A moment passed in silence before an alarm blared._

_"Field breach, abort! We've lost all contact with the pod!"_

_The second portal exploded._

"Oh no." Honey sighed.

_More frantic scientists were shouting their reports._

_"Let's break it off!"_

_"The pilot is gone!"_

_"The magnetic containment field's down!" A camera got sucked in to the rogue portal, cutting off its feed._

_Krei and the General glanced about in fear as the control room shuddered. The General slammed his palms on the desk. "Krei, shut it down! Now!"_

_Krei inputted a command and pressed a button. The portal closed._

_"I want this island sealed off, and-"_

"The government shut down Krei's experiment." Hiro realised, blocking out the video as his thoughts continued to trouble him.

"And he's using your Microbots to steal his machine back." Honey confirmed.

"Krei's the guy in the mask." Tadashi finished. Movement caught the corner of his eye, and he found that part of the control room – _directly on top of them_ – was covered in a large shadow.

Baymax looked back. "Oh, no." A giant slab of concrete flew towards them, swiftly trapping the team. Krei turned away, confident that they were dead.

The slab shifted as Baymax straightened up. Hiro's friends were coughing, but they seemed otherwise okay. "Baymax, get us out of here!"

A rocket fist slammed through the slab, smashing it to rubble, and returned to the robotic nurse.

"Go for the transmitter, behind his mask!" Hiro ordered.

Krei rolled his shoulders, looking annoyed. He sent a throng of Microbots at the team. Baymax acted quickly and shielded them with a small piece of debris. The bot was thrown back.

"Baymax!" Hiro clambered to the bot's side.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Wasabi asked the team when they had recovered.

Fred pulled down his hood. "It's Fred time." He jogged to the edge of the destroyed platform. "Super jump!" He soared through the air. "Gravity crush!" He spread his arms wide, only to be hit aside by a black pillar. "Oof, falling hard!"

Wasabi was panicking. "Seriously, what's the plan?"

"Get the mask!" GoGo ordered.

"Right behind ya!" said Honey Lemon.

Wasabi stared after them. "For real, what is the plan?!" He followed his friends into the fray.

* * *

 

"Baymax, you alright buddy?" Hiro helped up his brother's upgraded creation.

"I am still functional."

"Okay then, let's go help-" Hiro stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what lay before him.

Where Baymax had landed was a cracked piece of concrete. Beneath it was a dented, black boot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, guys look. It's a Heathcliff-hanger.  
> Also, I don't know what's up with the writer-thingy. Buttons keep disappearing and reappearing.


	10. Loose Screws

"No..." Hiro dropped to his knees and started digging. "No, no, not again! Baymax, help me!"

Baymax leaned over and removed the largest bits of rubble. It took a moment before Tadashi’s limp body had been fully uncovered.

Hiro froze in place, shoulders tense. "B-Baymax? Is h-he..." He couldn't complete the question. He didn't know how. It was hard to keep the doubt from his mind.

Tadashi was covered in a fine layer of dust and grit, lying in a small, elliptical crater and his armour badly damaged from taking the brunt of the trauma. The colour had been scratched off in swathes around his chest and shins, leaving behind dull silvers of dirty metal. A wide dent decorated his right pec but thankfully, it didn’t look too deep. His head had landed facing his left, allowing a small crack to form at the bottom-right of his visor, just above his jawline. Hiro could not see the other side of his brother’s face; he shouldn’t move Tadashi’s head for fear of doing further damage, and a small part of him didn’t want to confirm his fears.

"He is alive." Baymax pointed. "Look."

Hiro looked, barely breathing. The rise and fall of his brother's chest was slight, but it was there. Hiro listened intently. “ _D-Dashi? You there?_ ” He couldn't hear anything. His head felt... empty.

It was like… like the first time he’d stayed home alone when he was sick with a horrible cold, between the end of grade school and the beginning of high school. He was so scared. He had been afraid of seriously messing up, of getting hurt, of something _breaking,_ that he’d just hidden beneath his sheets – with Mochi, no less – until he heard the voices of his aunt and brother downstairs. He had been in such a rush to go and see them that he’d actually tripped the last few steps. Of course, being the brave, stubborn, valiant eight-year-old that he was, he immediately burst into tears. He hoped that Tadashi just thought it was because he’d injured himself, if that wasn’t evident by the _What were you thinking Hiro, What if you were higher up, You need to be more careful!_ lecture that had ensued. Tadashi’s concerns were only making Hiro feel worse. Every fret and warning wore away at young Hiro, making him imagine those scenarios with the vivacity of a bright young mind. Eventually, Tadashi had caught on that his anguish was doing the exact _opposite_ of helping, and suddenly opted to just hug the tears away instead, because children shouldn’t be yelled at while they’re crying in pain. They need someone there to tell them _It’s just a scratch, it’s just a bruise, it’ll be okay._

But this time was different. There was no reassuring presence, like a strong hand on his shoulder. There was no warm hum, similar to having an ear on a loved one’s chest as they spoke; only pressing darkness. " _Dashi?_ " he whispered, both out loud and inside.

No response. Hiro’s chest tightened. He couldn’t take this. He was back to square one, back in that hospital room, waiting for the _If_ that he couldn’t ascertain. Except now there were no nurses, no doctors, no machines to help turn that _If_ in their favour. Tadashi was alone, and so was Hiro.

Baymax bowed over to Hiro’s left, trying to get his attention. "Hiro, your blood pressure is: elevated, and you are beginning to: hyperventilate. This indicates that you are: panicking."

He was snapped back to the present by his friends' cries of fear. They needed help. _Tadashi is alive. He could come back._ Hiro climbed shakily on to Baymax's back, letting the magnets slide into place. They were the only thing keeping him together. "Let's go."

* * *

 

"Back into the fire!" A body flew into Fred, knocking him off his feet and sliding them both beneath the rest of the team. Krei raised a fist, creating an enormous stamp of Microbots. They watched helplessly as he brought it down.

The stamp hesitated mid-punch, throwing Krei off. He flinched away as something barely avoided his head.

Baymax circled back around, aiming directly for the masked man. Krei threw up narrow pikes, getting sloppier as the duo approached, and finally landed a solid punch on his attacker. Hiro was knocked off of Baymax and went crashing into his opponent. They tumbled down a flight of stairs and landed in a heap on the floor. Microbots fell like metallic rain on the team.

Hiro groaned and pushed himself up, spotting the mask that had been displaced in the scuffle. He snatched it up, stood and flipped up his visor. "It's over, Krei." He stated boldly. He watched as Krei painfully stood, grunting as he did. He turned to face Hiro.

It wasn't Krei.

"Pr-Professor Callaghan?" Hiro's voice caught. _No, no, no no no no! This isn't right!_ "The explosion.” Hiro stuttered. “Y-You died."

"No. I had your Microbots." Callaghan sneered.

"But... T-Tadashi." Hiro grasped at his helmet. "I can't... I can't hear him..."

Callaghan gave Hiro an uncertain look. Hiro continued. "He... he would’ve died. He almost did."

"Give me the mask, Hiro." Their ex-professor held out his hand.

Hiro backed away. "He went in there to _save you_." he said through gritted teeth.

"That was his mistake!" Callaghan yelled.

Hiro couldn't believe what he was hearing. Professor Robert Callaghan, Tadashi's mentor and idol, hadn't thought twice about letting him die. "No."

"What?" Robert was infuriated.

"It wasn't his mistake." Hiro's eyes were dead. "It was yours."

Baymax landed behind him. Robert glanced at the intimidating armour.

"Baymax, destroy." Hiro was becoming tense, so much so that his shoulders swayed with each breath.

Callaghan shivered in fear, shoulders taut as he staggered back half a step.

"My programming prevents me from injuring a human being." The statement allowed Callaghan to relax for a brief second.

" _Not anymore_." Hiro sat himself on the floor, legs crossed. The boy went limp.

Baymax spoke. "Hiro, this is not what-" his voice was cut off.

Robert was flabbergasted. _What is he-_

"No!" Honey yelled.

"Hiro, stop!" Fred pleaded.

The robot - that Callaghan’s student had named Baymax - seized up, apertures closing in its lenses. They opened again, glowing red. It spoke, its voice garbled almost beyond recognition.

"Destroy."

A gigantic gauntlet flew at Robert’s face. He barely managed to jump out of the way.

GoGo skated down the stair railing, pulling off the bot's next attack. "No! Stop, Hiro!" He threw her into a wall.

He retrieved the second fist and stomped after the target, who tripped and rolled in his attempts to escape. Hiro-max shouldered his way through obstacles, crumbling several pillars in the process. Callaghan scrambled away on his back, eyes wide as a fist aimed directly at his head. A blue suit intervened.

The bot struggled against the hindrance, arguing with the comrade. "No, stop!" it growled. "He's getting away!" He plucked off the blue suit and threw it away. It landed against a wall in a heap.

Callaghan picked up the mask from Hiro's slouched form. He put it on and summoned the Microbots to pull him and his tech to safety.

The team moved to restrain the corrupt bot as it fought to achieve its directive. "Hiro!"

Callaghan turned away from the group, boarding his only means of escape. Hiro-max raised a rocket fist and followed the rising target until two words flashed in the corner of his vision. _Locked On._

_THUNK_.

The fist deactivated as Hiro landed roughly a foot away from his seat, crumpled on the floor. He groaned and held his head where the blow had connected.

Baymax blinked and looked down at the team, lowering his raised arm. Honey stood over Hiro, holding a thick segment of pipe. She was panting heavily.

"My healthcare protocol has been violated." Baymax moved to assist Fred. "I regret any distress I may have caused." He turned to his patient who marched over, seething.

"How could you do that? I had him!" he yelled at Honey.

Wasabi came to her defence, holding up a large hand between them. "What you just did, we _never_ signed up for."

GoGo was furious. "We said we'd catch the guy. _That's it_."

Hiro spun angrily to face them. "I never should've let you help me!" He turned back to the bot. "Baymax, find Callaghan."

The protector's head tilted skywards and a cyan grid shorted out on his visor. "My enhanced scanner has been damaged." He said, speakers almost tinged with regret.

Hiro grunted in disgust, attaching to Baymax's magnets. "Wings!" The voice-activated command made the wings snap to attention, like a dismissive salute.

Fred panicked. "Hiro this wasn't part of the plan!"

"Fly!" Hiro ordered.

"Hiro!"

"Hiro!"

He ignored their calls as they flew away from the island. They didn't see his tears that were threatening to escape.

* * *

 

They entered the garage. Baymax watched as his patient grabbed a stepladder, climbed it and yanked off his enhanced scanner, using it to shove an item off of his desk. Hiro plugged it into the computer and tapped away at the keys, glancing over at the helmet. Baymax sensed the anomaly in Hiro’s parietal lobe when the scanner reacted.

Baymax felt the need to inform him. "Your blood pressure is: elevated. You appear to be: distressed."

"I'm fine." He disconnected the wires and shoved the helmet back on to the plush head. "There, i-is it working?"

The bot ran a quick diagnostic. "My sensor is: operational."

"Good.” Hiro reached up to Baymax’s access port. “Then let's get-" _Tap._ The port remained closed.

_Tap_. Hiro held his finger down for an extra second but nothing happened.

"What?"

_Tap, tap tap tap tap._ Hiro was becoming agitated.

Baymax lowered his head in question. "Are you going to remove my: healthcare chip?"

"Yes." _Tap tap._ "Open." Hiro tried using two fingers, almost burrowing into the armour with the instinctual logic of, _If it doesn’t work, use more force._ He was too drained from the fight to use his powers against Baymax again. _Tap tap tap tap._

"My purpose is to heal the sick and injured." Baymax pointed out.

Hiro tried using both hands to pry the small doors apart, to no avail. "Baymax, open your access port." _Tap tap._

"Do you want me to terminate Professor Callaghan?"

_Tap tap._ Hiro pounded his fist on the armour in frustration. "Just. Open." Hiro pulled the cherry-red chest plate away. It hissed as it depressurised and he tossed it aside, quickly returning to fiddle with the slit. _Tap tap, twist twist._

"Will terminating Professor Callaghan improve your emotional state?"

Hiro stopped mid-assault. The question had caught him off-guard. "Yes, n-n-no, I don't know! Open your access-"

"Is this what Tadashi wanted?"

Hiro pulled at the circular port, the strong vinyl fighting him the whole time. "It doesn't matter!"

"Tadashi programmed me to aid in-"

"Tadashi's _gone!_ " Hiro pounded on the white belly in front of him and light bulb blew out instantaneously. His forehead slid down the smooth, cool material, tickling him with the faint resulting static. "I-I can't hear him. Tadashi's... gone." He swallowed thickly.

"Tadashi is here." Baymax chimed.

"No. He's _not here_."

"Tadashi is here."

Hiro heard a hum. He raised his eyes as Baymax's chest lit up.

_"This is Tadashi Hamada, and this is the first test of my robotics project." His eyes were alight with excitement._

_"Hello, I am Baymax, -zzzzzzt!"_

_"Stop stop stop stop stop stop!" His arms flailed wildly and the image froze on his scared face._

Hiro took a breath. _Tadashi…_

_"The seventh test, of my robotics project." His eyebrows pulled together in worry; his hopes weren't as high. His concern lifted for a moment as the project spoke again._

_"Hello, I am Bay-"_

Zchwer! Zchwer! Zchwer! _Giant puffy arms beat at him relentlessly, the right detaching and flying around the room. He ducked and stared after it until the left continued to fight him._

_"W-Wait, stop, stop scan, sto-!" He froze mid-panic._

_Non-threatening? Huggable?_ Hiro laughed through a dry sob, the lower half of his eyesight turning blurry.

_Tadashi Hamada again, and this is the_ thirty-third _test of my robotics project." There were deep bags beneath his eyes, and his hair hung sadly under his cap. He ducked as sparks flew and the lab blacked out._

_A flashlight clicked on, shining into the camera. It moved aside, revealing his face. He eyed the camera warily and sighed, gaze lifting to look directly into the lens. "I'm not giving up on you. You don't understand this yet, but people need you. So let's get back to work." He ended his little pep-talk with a determined smile and reached up to end the test._

Beep _. The video halted_

Hiro looked down in contemplation. _He didn’t give up. The idiot._

_"This is, uh, Tadashi Hamada, and this is the eighty-fourth... test." He rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled loudly. He inserted the chip. "Whaddya say, Big Guy?"_

_"Hello, I am Baymax, your personal, healthcare companion."_

_His eyes grew huge. "It works." he whispered. "IT WORKS! Oh, this is amazing! You-you work!" He smooched the camera. "I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I_ kneeew iiit _! Oh, you work, I can't believe-I ca-okay. Alright, big moment here. Scan me." He held his arms out by his hips, shoulders heaving with every breath._

_"Your neurotransmitter levels are: elevated. This indicates that you are: happy." said the young Baymax._

_"I am, I really am. Oh, man. Wait till my brother sees you. You're gonna help so many people, buddy._ So many _. And that's all for now. I am satisfied with my care."_

_The video ended on his relieved face._

Hiro hesitantly placed his hand on the warm image, then sniffed and brushed away a tear as it faded. He looked up at his carer. "Thankyou Baymax."

The robot blinked.

"I'm so _sorry_. I guess I'm not like my brother." Hiro dropped his head solemnly, unable to hold his own against the unwavering stare. A few tears weaved silently down his cheeks.

Footsteps approached from behind him and a feminine voice spoke. "Hiro."

He turned to face the team; minus one Hamada. "Guys, I, uh, I-"

GoGo embraced him, holding him close. He relaxed into the hug and her head rested on his. "We're going to catch Callaghan."

"And this time, we'll do it right."

Hiro’s breathing hitched. _He was okay._ “ _You're okay.”_

"I sure am, bonehead."

Hiro bolted for the door and wrapped his arms around the black suit. Tadashi stumbled back and chuckled, ruffling his baby brother's thick hair.

"Tada-dashi. I-I thought... when Callaghan..." Hiro shuddered into the armour.

"Hey, hey. It's alright." He hugged the head holding that big brain of his. "It's okay. I can't say I would've done any different. Besides," he pulled back from the embrace, eyes sparkling. "a fire couldn't stop me. You thought a little concrete would?" He laid both hands on Hiro's shoulders, looking into his doe eyes. "I'm not leaving you like that again. Not for _anything_. We all came back. That's the only thing that matters." He hugged Hiro’s small frame tightly, smiling sadly with each silenced body-wracking, sob. It took everything he had not to break down too but Tadashi had experience. He had done this before, countless times.

It took less than a minute for Hiro to calm down when he remembered that the team were still there. As if he could read thoughts, Wasabi decided to lighten the mood, for the little guy’s sake. "Hey, but maybe don't leave your team stranded on a spooky island next time." he joked.

Hiro turned to him, eyes wide and face-palming. "Oh man-" he peeked out from behind his fingers in silent apology.

"Nah it's cool.” Fred admitted. “Heathcliff picked us up in the family chopper."

Honey Lemon produced a flash drive from a pocket. "Hiro, we found something you should see."

* * *

 

He plugged the USB into his sleeping computer and downloaded a file. It opened up immediately; another video.

_"You almost got us all killed."_

_"HEY! YOU DID THIS! YOU KNEW IT WASN'T READY!" Callaghan struggled against his reflexive restrainers._

"Callaghan? He was there?" Hiro covered his mouth in disbelief.

"He was such a good man." Honey commented. "What happened?"

"I don't know. But the answer's here somewhere." Hiro minimised the window, revealing eight more black feeds. He rewound the videos again and like last time, the cameras reanimated to their final moments.

"Wait, wait, stop." Honey pointed at the top-left screen. "There he is."

Hiro maximised the image and resumed it. "With the pilot..." A thought struck him. "Hang on." He fast-forwarded the video, finding the moment he wanted.

_"We've invited all these people." reasoned Abigail._

He rewound for a second more and paused. A small rectangle was highlighted on the pilot's helmet. _Zoom and enhance._ He'd always wanted to say that. The image came into focus, revealing a familiar name printed in bold lettering. "The pilot was Callaghan's daughter."

Tadashi finished the thought. "Callaghan blames Krei."

"This is a revenge story." Fred exclaimed.

"So what are we waiting for?" Hiro picked up his own helmet.

Tadashi stood in front of Hiro, effectively stopping him. "Callaghan's next move. We need a break, Hiro, and we’re still recovering. It would do us all some good to wait it out."

Hiro hesitated, then nodded and put his helmet down. "Y-You're right. Obviously." _Classic Tadashi. Always thinking of others first._

The elder Hamada turned to the group. "Keep an eye out for anything that would bait Callaghan. We could capture him before something major happens. I'm not sure if he has suspicions about Hiro's abilities, after what he saw, but we can't be certain. The best we can do for now is lay low."

The team agreed and turned to leave. Fred swivelled back, eyes almost as wide as his suit’s yellow orbs. "Wait, wait, bait?” his eyes unfocused slightly and he chuckled. “That rhymed.”

Hiro didn’t have time for this. “Fred.” He called sternly.

Fred started and concentrated once more. “Right, sorry. I just remembered something. Krei Tech's opening up a new building, tomorrow afternoon. If I've learnt anything from comics, it's that villains always wait until a big, publicised event to attack." Fred glanced around suspiciously, as if there were spies in the shadows. "My bet is that Callaghan will go after Krei then. Your thoughts, geniuses?"

Wasabi blanched but recovered quickly. "Who knew superhero rules would apply to us?"

Tadashi patted Fred on the back. "Good thinking there. We'll meet up at Fred's tomorrow. We _will_ catch Callaghan. And we _will_ win."

GoGo and the group nodded and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Multiple meanings behind this chapter's title. See if you can spot them all (brownie points for creativity)! So far I've thought of three.


	11. Fixed Joint

Neither of them could sleep. They had left Baymax to charge in the garage, and were now in bed just staring at the ceiling. There was too much going through their heads.

Tadashi was the most affected by that night’s discovery. _“Professor Callaghan-“_

_“Why-“_

_“Poor Abigail-“_

_“I get that, but-“_

_“We can't judge him-“_

_“Or we can try not to at least-“_

_“But-“_

_“It's so unlike-“_

_“The Professor.”_

Their thoughts looped like that for hours. No matter how much they tossed and turned, they couldn't get to sleep. It didn't help Tadashi that the floor seemed extra unwelcoming that night. Or maybe it was the fact that he was sleeping on the floor for the second night in a row.

"Tadashi?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't sleep."

"Obviously."

Silence.

"Do you think he noticed?" Hiro worried.

"I wasn't there to see what he might have."

"Right. I'm guessing the others told you the short version?"

"Uh-huh."

Silence.

"So you know I possessed Baymax."

"Yep."

"And I... I a-almost killed the Professor."

"Hiro." Tadashi leaned up on his elbow to face his brother. "You didn't."

"I was held back." he stated darkly. "I can't say that I wouldn't've."

Silence.

"I couldn't hear you, Tadashi. I only knew you were alive 'cause you were breathing. Nothing else. It was... it was so cold." Hiro shivered at the memory, pulling his blankets around his shoulders to defend from a phantom breeze.

A moment passed quietly until Tadashi confessed. "You don't need to defend yourself, Hiro. And neither do I."

Hiro’s brow furrowed as he tilted his head in Tadashi’s direction. "What do you mean?"

"I wouldn't've been any different in your position.” Tadashi looked down for a moment, rolling on to his right side so that his eyes peeked over the edge of the bed. “If I'd found you under the rubble, and you were out cold? Callaghan would've lost more than that mask."

Hiro was startled by his brother's admission. Tadashi was always so kind, so forgiving. To hear him say something like that about his old professor... it would take a lot for him to accept it himself, let alone openly tell Hiro.

Tadashi continued, levelling his gaze with Hiro’s. "But what matters is that you didn't. You didn't cross the line, when you easily could have. I like to think a part of you held back, don't you?"

Silence.

Hiro relented. "Yeah, I do."

"Alright then."

Another moment passed. Tadashi closed his eyes and leaned back, letting out a long breath. He needed sleep.

"Tadashi?"

"Hm?"

"... I still can't sleep."

"I know, Hiro. Just try."

* * *

 

At some point during the night the brothers drifted off, unable to stay at rest for more than an hour at a time. Hiro was the worst culprit; he woke his brother up every half hour with quiet sniffling and sobs. He clearly didn't want Tadashi to have to see him that way, but he couldn’t help it.

Tadashi could read his brother better than anyone though, and would gently shush him back into a fitful slumber. He'd promised himself that he would do anything to protect Hiro. He had taken beatings and blame to keep Hiro safe, but he couldn't take the fall for this one. He had to help Hiro through it.

* * *

 

_Everything was tinted in red. Callaghan cowered on the metal floor, nowhere to run, as the fist levelled with his head. Hiro, dressed in his nightclothes, was yelling at the bot to stop._

_"Please! Just wait! Don't do this!" He was held back by a chain of Microbots around his wrists, but he was pulling hard against them. Another strip covered his mouth until all that could be heard were muffled screams._

_Honey approached Hiro from behind. He froze when he heard her, his eyes tearing up._ Thankyou. Please, hurry.

Clank _._

_The nursebot stopped moving when the Microbots were bashed away with the pipe. Hiro ran from the quivering tech which recoiled from the scene, disappearing into the surrounding darkness._

_Tadashi appeared in front of him. "Hey, hey. Shhh, sh sh. It's okay, Hiro. No one got hurt. You're okay."_

_"I-I'm s-s-sorry, T-Tadashi. I c-couldn't s-s-stop..."_

_"SShhhh, Hiro. Listen to me. You held back. Isn't this proof enough?” Tadashi gestured to the still of Baymax, poised with a raised arm and fierce glare. “You knew what you were doing was wrong. Some people," Tadashi glared at the frozen Callaghan, "don't possess that level of restraint. You have a big brain in there, Hiro, and it shows. You have more knowledge than men four times your age, men who would have lost it in your place. You did well."_

_Hiro's sobbing lessened so much that he could breathe normally. "Th-Thank you, Tadashi. I'm sorry."_

_"It's okay."_

* * *

 

The dream faded and Tadashi pulled open his eyes. Morning light filtered through the Venetian blinds and streamed onto some dust-ridden posters. He spotted the one advertising the Showcase.

It had only been a little over a month, and so much of his perspective had changed. So much of them had changed. Tadashi had lost some of his bounce and Hiro had lost his innocuity. There was only so much that these powers could bring, but they had taken so much too.

A rustling to his right brought the elder Hamada out of his reverie. "Tadashi? You asleep?"

"No I'm skydiving, knucklehead."

Hiro's voice lightened somewhat at his sarcasm. "Sorry for, y-y'know, waking you up."

"It's alright. We better get going before Aunt Cass gets up. We'll leave a note or something."

"Yeah, okay."

They had a quick shower and pulled on their suits. Tadashi headed down to activate and assist Baymax with his armour, and Hiro crept around to ensure his aunt wasn't awake. Seeing no signs of her, he scribbled a note on her notepad.

 _Had to drop by the lab - we don't have the right materials. Might be home earlier than normal. Last hug._ He drew an _O_ next to the message. He dropped the pen and turned away as his stomach rumbled.

_P.S: Thanks for the donuts. :D_

* * *

 

"Here."

Hiro tossed something at him. He caught it and stared before he realised what it was.

"Can't go saving the city on an empty stomach."

Tadashi grinned and bit into the pastry, savouring the cold jelly. It wouldn't do much in terms of providing stamina, but it would give him an energy boost until something better came along. He was glad to know his brother had thought about him.

Hiro finished his own donut - plain chocolate, of course - and climbed onto Baymax. "To Fred's?"

"To Fred's." Tadashi confirmed. He slid his boots on and they headed out.

* * *

 

_"It is just the Hamadas, Master Fredrick. Shall I lower the rifle?"_

"Duh!"

 _"As you wish."_ Heathcliff's voice died on the radio.

The brothers and Baymax landed safely in the yard.

"Dudes, a little warning next time!" Fred shuffled over to the trio, meeting them at the patio door.

Hiro was stunned. "What? I thought you knew we were coming."

"Not so early!” Fred’s eyes bugged out. “Do you know what time it is?"

Tadashi gave Fred a look. "8:30?"

"Exactly! What kind of psycho is awake at 8:30?"

"Almost everyone, on a Monday." Tadashi deadpanned.

Fred's disbelieving demeanour fell. "Huh. Maybe that's why Wasabi yelled at me that one time."

"What one time?" Hiro laughed at his friend's thoughtful expression.

"Oh. I called him during class one day. Almost cut his finger off. He was _not_ happy." Fred shuddered at the memory.

They chuckled. "I bet not." Tadashi shook his head, entertained by the mental image.

"So, you guys hungry? I'll have Heathcliff whip us up a little something. Eggs sound good?"

"Anything does right now.” Tadashi followed Fred back into the mansion, with Hiro and Baymax trailing close behind. “We're running on powdered sugar here."

"Great. I'll go get ready." Fred led them back to his room and picked up his suit, pulling it on without getting changed.

Tadashi watched in amusement. "How're you gonna eat with that thing?"

Fred flipped the hood down. "Same way I flip a sign. With these babies." He wiggled the suit's claws.

“ _Unbelievable_.” Hiro scoffed.

_“I know. But that's Fred for you.”_

Hiro dumped himself on the couch and the TV switched on instantaneously. The 7-News Live program displayed shots of a successful and confident-looking Alistair Krei, then faded to a shot of the front of the new building. A female reporter chattered excitedly about _this great new opportunity._

"Fred, could you call up the team?” Hiro asked. “Looks like we need to be there by 11:00."

"Sure thing, Little Dude."

"Breakfast, Masters." Heathcliff strode into the room holding a polished-wood tray laden with three steaming plates of waffles, with small bowls and jugs filled with thickly-diced fruits and syrups respectively.

"Thanks a bunch, Heathcliff. Fred here wouldn't know what to do without you." Tadashi thanked him.

The butler set the tray down. "Thank you for your kind words, Master Tadashi. Makes me regret almost shooting you earlier." He left the room.

The brothers shared a look before Tadashi spoke. "Do I wanna know?"

Fred eagerly drowned his fluffy food in maple syrup, not making eye contact. "No."

"Okay then."

* * *

 

"Thanks for coming so soon, guys."

"Don't sweat it Hiro." Wasabi strolled over to the couch and sat heavily, instantly regretting it. His eyes watered. "Seems like Fred is though." he wheezed. "Dude, you need some deodorant?"

"Nah, I'm good. Wouldn't want to waste it."

"Trust me, you wouldn't be." Wasabi left him alone, distinctly turning his head away.

GoGo popped a bubble, masking her approval at Wasabi's habits.

Honey smiled softly and looked down. Tadashi rubbed her knee, sitting beside her. "What's up, Honey?"

She paused before answering. "Well, I've just been thinking about what Hiro said the other day. About... the people who would want to get to you. I have to admit, I'm-I'm a little scared."

The room quietened. Tadashi stopped massaging her knee and looked up at her. "We all are. But we should be fine, as long as we keep our identities a secret. If we were to separate our superhero life from our regular one, we could easily pull this off. Besides, if Hiro and I exposed ourselves, at least in the suits, no one would know. It would become great publicity, actually." he grinned.

They stayed silent. He looked at each of their faces, minus Fred who was behind his hood. He was sitting unnaturally still.

"Fred? You alright?" Tadashi leaned over and pulled off the hood. Fred was beaming.

"You know what this means?"

Hiro leaned away, concern growing on his face. "...What does it mean, Fred?"

"Who's Fred?" asked Fred.

Tadashi shared worried looks with the team. "Did you hit him too hard, GoGo?"

"Don't look at me. I haven't touched him."

"Don't you guys get it?" Fred jumped up, his hood falling into place. "We need superhero names!"

They stared at him blankly. He rolled his eyes and raised his hand. "I call Fredzilla!"

Tadashi was the first to snap out of it. "Isn't it kind of obvious if you use your name?"

Fred sighed dramatically. "No. It would be too obvious. Nobody would suspect the guy in the suit, who works and spends his day in a suit. You wouldn't even see my face!"

Wasabi held his chin. "I have to admit, he has a point."

GoGo huffed. "Okay, granted, this idiot's a genius, but where does that leave the rest of us?"

"You could use your nicknames." Hiro stated.

"What?"

"Your nicknames! Nobody else knows what they are. It's gotta be better than making up new ones. This way, we won't slip up over the comms. We already call each other that, so it'll come naturally."

They stared at him. "Let me get this straight." GoGo pinched the bridge of her nose. "You want us to go around, using names that only _we_ call each other, and not expect any kickback?"

"Basically."

Silence.

"Alright." _Pop_.

Wasabi stared in shock. "Are you serious right now?"

"It could work." Honey spoke up. "I mean, my parents don't even know you call me Honey Lemon, and they ask me about everything. If it doesn't come up after the few years I've known you, then it never will."

"You've gotta be kiddin me." Wasabi facepalmed. "This'll never work!"

"Hey, I'm fine with it as long as it keeps us safe. Sorry, Wasabi, but that's the name you're going with." GoGo relaxed slightly.

"I still call Fredzilla."

Tadashi high-fived him. "Sure thing, buddy."

"Uh, guys?" Hiro raised his hand. "Where does that put Baymax and I?" Baymax perked up at the sound of his name.

Fred looked guilty. "You don't have nicknames." he said sadly.

Tadashi pointed at his project. "We'll call him Medic, for obvious reasons."

GoGo stepped forward. "Sorry to burst your bubble," she glanced at Fred and added "- no pun intended -"

Fred slumped.

"But wouldn't the single-only nursebot in all of San Fransokyo be a little recognisable?"

"I've tinted all your visors. A button on the right side, same as the one to flip the visor on and off." Hiro explained. "We could give him a voice modulator too. He'll probably do the most public speaking, since he'll be helping anyone on-site."

"Well we have Baymax. What about you?" Honey asked.

"I... don't know."

Fred couldn't hold it in. "I have some ideas!" his hand shot up, only to land back on his mouth.

Hiro considered. _Well, the other names seem okay. This can't be too bad._ "Shoot."

"Techboy!"

"No."

"Electroman!"

"Even worse."

"Tekiro!"

"N-wait, what?"

"Tekiro."

"Where did you think of that?"

"Well, you're a technopath, hence the 'tech' sound. Your name is Hiro. Put them together. Tech-Hiro. Techhiro. Tekiro."

Hiro looked at the rest of the group hesitantly. "What d'you think?"

Tadashi made a face. "Don't ask the guy who took the name _Freak_."

"It's not bad." Honey commented. "It kinda sounds like a real name, so it's more believable."

Hiro took her words into consideration. He nodded. "Tekiro it is then."

Wasabi checked his watch. "Well, Tekiro." 10:30. "Welcome to the team. We should get going."

The group stood and followed, GoGo strutting out first. They patted Hiro on the back on their way past in a sort of rushed congratulation-initiation ceremony. Tadashi was the last one to leave. He held out a fist.

Hiro didn't move.

"Don't leave me hangin'." He joked. Still no response. He turned to face his brother, hands on his brother’s shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Hiro shook his head and paused. "So, this is a thing that's happening." he muttered.

Tadashi chuckled. "Guess so."

"It's just... if you'd told me a year ago that I would be in a superhero team with college students, you know what I would've said?"

"Unbelievable?" Tadashi wiggled his eyebrows.

"Improbable." Hiro corrected. "I mean, it could happen, sure. But the odds of it? Slim to none."

"I know what you mean. But you're forgetting one small factor."

"That is?"

Hiro's helmet slipped gently over his head thanks to Tadashi although he still held Hiro’s shoulders. "That's that." Tadashi smiled down at him. "Was there any other choice?"

Hiro smiled back. “ _I don't think so_.”

“ _There we go.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yeah, this chapter's a shorty. I tried adding more but I couldn't seem to do much.


	12. Other Angles

Krei cleared his throat and raised his glass slightly. The attendees all turned towards him and hushed for his speech.

"This beautiful new campus is the culmination of a lifelong dream. But _none_ of this would've been possible without a few bumps in the road. Those setbacks made us stronger, and have set us on the path - To a Bright Future!"

The crowd cheered. The crowd screamed.

Krei looked around in confusion. "What?"

"SET BACK?"

A figure creeped over the roof of the building, revealing himself to Krei. He was made all the more terrifying by the rattle surrounding him. Krei squinted. _Are those the Hamada boy's Microbots?_

The figure approached, and Krei ran. He didn't get very far. The bots entrapped him in an iron grip, which he struggled fervently against. He stopped when he realised they were rising, not wanting to become a stain on the rapidly receding ground below. The figure rose with him, sliding the mask up.

"Was my daughter a _setback_?" he hissed. He started circling Krei like a shark.

"Callaghan..." He couldn't believe it. This man was dead. _Apparently not._ "Your daughter, that... that was an accident." He twisted, trying to follow the elderly man's movements. "I-"

"NO!" The bots tightened around him and he groaned in pain. "You knew it was unsafe. My daughter is _gone_ because of your _arrogance_." He looked sharply to Krei's left and raised an arm. Krei turned with him.

A stream of Microbots raised up a section of a familiar piece of tech. To Krei's dread, two more just like it were also ascending, supported by black scaffolding. Callaghan lowered his arm.

"What are you doing?" Krei was afraid but he needed to stall, at least a little.

Callaghan gritted his teeth. "You took _everything_ from me when you sent Abigail into that machine. Now I'm taking everything from _you_." The sections clicked together above them, and the portal opened.

"No, no, you can't!" Krei watched in fear as the building was being pulled apart, grasped into the empty space of beyond the portal.

"You're going to watch everything you've built disappear. Then it's _your turn_."

"Professor Callaghan!" A young voice yelled. The men turned towards it. Callaghan faltered when he saw who it belonged to.

The team of students landed on a flat portion of the building's roof. The smallest member pulled off his helmet, revealing thick, spiky hair. "Let him go."

Callaghan glared at them.

Tadashi gestured to the wreckage. "Is this what Abigail would have wanted?" he asked sincerely.

"Abigail is _gone_!" the ex-professor exclaimed.

Hiro looked up at his brother's old mentor. "This won't change anything. Trust me. I know."

Callaghan didn't have a reply. _Maybe... maybe he's right... I could still stop now... It's not too late..._

"Listen to the kid Callaghan. Please, just let me go. I'll give you anything you want." Krei finished with a smile. His smiles could get him out of anything.

Callaghan tensed. _Wrong_. "I want my daughter back." he growled. The mask slid down, accompanied by a beam of Microbots shot towards the team.

They jumped in different directions to avoid the attack; Tadashi fell with his friends, while Hiro and Baymax had split to the other side.

Hiro turned on his comms device, leaping onto matching magnets. "Go for the mask!" They flew right at Callaghan and Krei.

 _Oh, come on!_ Krei's day couldn't get any worse.

Callaghan split the tower of Microbots and reached out as the giant red suit zoomed past. Microbots grabbed onto its feet and swung it around, hurling it into the side of a building.

Baymax took the brunt of the hit while Hiro crashed through a window, rolling to absorb the impact. Hiro recovered quickly but before he could stand, gravity flipped. He fell upwards. Baymax moved to retrieve him, but was once again grabbed by a tether of bots and slammed forcefully into the ground. He didn't move.

"Baymax!" Honey screamed.

Callaghan faced the distraction. The remaining five students ran at him. Tadashi jumped off the edge of the building and activated his board.

Fred jumped too. "Leaping into action!" He spat fire at their opponent. It was blocked by a black wall.

* * *

 

Hiro looked for a way out of his predicament. He couldn't escape from the building or he would be pulled into the sky. The ceiling cracked beneath him. _Oh, nonono_. It crumbled and he fell through about five more floors before his hand struck a piece of rebar. He grasped onto it.

* * *

 

GoGo raced around, looking for a weak point to throw a disc at. She skated down the inside of the building and pumped a disc towards Callaghan. He caught it and her both in a rapidly sealing sphere. Daylight flickered out in the ball, leaving GoGo alone.

* * *

 

Fred recovered from his jump and breathed fire all around him, screaming in excitement and fury. He jumped again, only to be shoved into the wall behind him. The Microbots holding his suit pulled him forward and into their trap, effectively chaining him in place. The bots started pulling him apart, limb from limb.

* * *

 

Wasabi sliced away at the rapid attacks from Callaghan. Each spike of Microbots ended up scattered on the roof beside him. Callaghan changed tactics. He pulled up a panel on either side of Wasabi and pressed them together, sandwiching him. Wasabi deactivated his blades as his arms were pushed closer to his head. "Getting a... little tight." he gasped.

* * *

 

Honey was glad she had taken gymnastics as a child. She jumped and vaulted over Microbot attacks, throwing jelly bombs at every one. A spike came at her from above, and she blocked it with a plastic-cloud bomb. Another spike broke through. Before it could hit her, she created a bubble dome and hid inside of it. Spikes pounded relentlessly on the dome. A couple broke through.

* * *

 

Tadashi watched as one-by-one, his friends were trapped. He couldn't do anything to help. He glanced around in a panic, gaze resting on the Kabuki mask.

* * *

 

Hiro's hand slipped and he was pulled closer to the portal. He grasped at the air, glove sliding over a thick piece of wire. He gripped it, sliding almost all the way to the end. He was helpless as he watched his team struggle with their traps.

"Oh!"

"It's too strong!"

"No way out!"

Tiny pieces of debris clicked on his visor, humming smoothly as they flew past. He looked back at them as they were pulled upwards. "That's it! I know how to beat him!"

He faced the ground. "Listen up! Use those big brains of yours to think your way around the problem. Look for a new angle!"

* * *

 

Tadashi grinned when he heard the advice.

 _Go for the mask_ , Hiro had said.

_The neurotransmitter must be in his mask. We get the mask, and he can't control the bots. Game over._

_The mask holds the neurotransmitter._

While Callaghan was focused on Honey’s trap beneath him, Tadashi swerved over to Wasabi, holding a finger to his lips. "Need this." he whispered.

He snatched off the red cloth around his friend's hair. Wasabi didn't have the strength to complain. Tadashi dove behind a wall of the building where Callaghan couldn't see him.

* * *

 

Robert had finally trapped that pink menace. Where was the last one? It was too bad, really. His favourite students just _had_ to go ahead and discover his plan. Now he had to get rid of them. And they were so promising, too.

He scanned debris for the final, black suit. _Where is he?_

A body came flying towards him. An armoured arm reached out for his mask.

_Got you._

Robert directed a bar of Microbots at the hoverboard, effectively stopping Tadashi mid-air.

The student looked down at his old teacher and grinned through his visor. "Surprise."

His other hand - which had been in a fist at his side - suddenly unclenched. The Microbots engulfing his board shattered away, releasing him back into the sky.

Callaghan caught a glimpse of a band around the boy's head.

_Another transmitter? But how?_

He was enraged. He threw multiple shots at the moving target but each was deflected with the wave of a hand. Each block felt like a slap to the face for Robert.

* * *

 

Wasabi looked around. _Another angle?_

Then he mentally slapped himself. _We live in three dimensions, genius._

He dug downwards with his blades, evading the pressing panels and leftover Microbots. "Haha!"

* * *

 

 _Why should I stay in here?_ Honey concentrated as each spike penetrated the dome. They hit at regular intervals. She created two sticky bombs and, holding one in each hand, timed her escape.

The orange glue encased her hands and the spike, pulling her out along with it.

* * *

 

"My arms! I can't go any further! Ah - wait a second." He laughed at his own stupidity.

"It's a suit!" He pulled his arms out of the sleeves and looked through the suit’s mouth.

"Hello, sign." He grabbed up the stray piece of metal. "Care to go for a little... _spin_?"

He flipped the sign and bashed away the bots holding the suit's left arm, throwing it into the air. As it spun, he relocated his left hand into the suit and cut away his restraints with the metal.

"Double spin! And back spin!" He thrust the metal into the ground, dodging the attacking bots.

"Yeah!" he leaped back into action.

* * *

 

GoGo glared at her trap. _If enough pressure is applied in one spot over the right amount of time, anything can be moved._

Her gum popped. She stuck it to her helmet and flipped down her visor. She held out her arms and legs, and she spun.

She was getting slightly giddy from the building centrifugal force, yet she continued to spin. She yelled over the pressure, bringing her ankles and wrists together.

A few more spins cut open the ball and she jumped out. It took a moment for her to regain her senses.

* * *

 

Tiny, black robots were slowly encasing his body. It was getting difficult to move.

"Baymax! Ow, woah!"

Baymax found the source of distress.

"Hiro."

The darkness closed over his vision.

_I must help my patient._

He sent a rocket fist upwards, breaking the thick barrier. He followed after it, catching up and reattaching the gauntlet. He raced towards his patient. To Hiro.

* * *

 

Hiro grinned as he watched his team escape, but quickly turned to worry as he saw one that couldn’t break free. “Baymax!”

A piece of rubble flew at him, hitting his arm. _Hard_. "Ow, woah!"

He heard an explosion. A giant, red suit of armour was approaching him. _Baymax_.

He let go of the wire and flipped to face the portal, arms outstretched. Baymax caught him on his back magnets and dove, circling to face upright once again.

* * *

 

Krei watched in horror as Callaghan heartlessly discarded his old students.

He was delighted when they each found an escape. Krei twisted in his own trap and tried to get out. He spotted a red suit being overtaken by Microbots. _Oh, no_. The suit was completely covered.

As quickly as his hopes were shattered, they were reignited by a blue flame. And a nursebot in pursuit of its own arm.

The red suit arced up and twisted, allowing the purple suit to catch on to the magnets that bonded them.

"Ha ha! I love that robot!" Krei exclaimed.

Callaghan - well beyond furious - shoved him into a wall, wrapping metal around him. If only he had a suit.

* * *

 

Baymax touched down with Hiro and the rest of the team raced over to meet them. Tadashi hovered to his brother's left.

"Okay, new plan!" Hiro ordered. They closed the distance between them and Callaghan. "Forget the mask! Take out the bots, they'll get sucked up into the portal."

Wasabi nodded his approval, activating his plasma blades. "Now _that_ is a plan!"

Hiro turned to the others. "Honey, Fred, can you give us some cover?"

Fred jogged sideways, somehow managing to shrug through his suit. "Like you have to ask!"

Honey produced four blue bombs and made them air bound. "Let's do this, Freddie!"

Fred jumped up, spouting fire. "Smokescreen!"

As predicted, the bombs blinded Callaghan. He had to rise higher if he planned to attack. He ascended to an altitude above the thick smoke, giving him the appearance of walking on air. Hiro and the red suit flew up above him, arcing back once more.

Callaghan spread his fingers, firing off multiple hits of Microbots at the pair.

Baymax dodged and weaved through them, heading straight towards the portal.

"Ready?” Hiro held his body close to Baymax to avoid any lucky hits. “And... dive!"

Baymax spun and twisted, flipping so that he faced the ground, suddenly activating his thrusters and pushing away from the vacuum. He punched through the amalgamation of black bots, shattering their formation and sending them hurling towards the portal.

* * *

 

Wasabi slid down a broken pillar of Microbots, searching the smog for the team. It was pretty hard to see down there. He could only hear them over his comms device.

He vaulted over a pike, and glided gently to the floor while twirling. "Woah, gravity's gettin a little weird here, guys. Wait, let’s use this!" He unsheathed his blades and rebounded himself off of a wall, floating straight towards a black pillar. He sliced through it.

He was a double-bladed hurricane, carving beam after beam of bots. "Green Blades of Fury! Ha! Ha!"

* * *

 

GoGo jumped and twisted over and around forgotten Microbots. She reached the ground on a black rail, swerving around and jumping onto a pillar. She used her momentum to carry her skywards, scraping her discs along the side of the pole. "Woman, up!"

* * *

 

Fred had picked up another slat along the way. "Double-sign spin!" His dextrous claws expertly twirled the slats. He added a touch of Fred. _Fwoosh_. "Now my signs are on fire!" The burning slats cut through pillars like a hot knife through butter.

This was officially Fred’s best day ever.

* * *

 

Honey threw a glue bomb at her foot and jumped as high as she could. She _soared_. She bounced herself off of pillars to gain more height, noticing when she started to slow.

She jammed her purse into a pillar and produced a pink bomb. Honey caught it and, as she fell back, threw it with all her might. It hit true, causing an ear-shattering explosion. It blew out more than one pillar, to say the least.

"Whoo! Now _that's_ a chemical reaction!"

* * *

 

Tadashi's blood was pumping. He hadn't felt this rush since his first hoverboard flight through the city. And he loved it.

He heard his friends' cries of excitement and freedom as they dispatched Microbots with their supersuits. He narrowly dodged around spontaneously-rising pillars, mulling over a way to help, and found one over the comms. He chuckled.

Baymax was reciting the names of each karate move as he smashed his way through. Good thing Tadashi was a black belt.

He deactivated his board and looked up, and couldn't see Krei. Therefore, Krei couldn't see him, and even if he did, he could always play the 'spare transmitter' card.

Tadashi followed along with his project's gentle voice, throwing out hits strong enough to shatter concrete.

"Back-kick." _Smash_.

"Knife-hand." _Fwoomp_.

"Roundhouse." _Stoosh_.

"Hammer-fist." _Krrrrreeeeeeesh_!

Tadashi took delight in how the team destroyed Hiro's creation, and he couldn't be any happier.

Until the commands stopped coming.

“ _Hiro_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’m sorry for another short-ish chapter.  
> Headcanon: Honey used to do gymnastics until she had her growth spurt. This is why she is so flexible, graceful and energetic. She's also always hyped up on Aunt Cass's famous quadruple-shot double-cream double-sugar espressos.


	13. Everything is Alright.

_“I'm okay.”_

Callaghan had forced Baymax still, holding them upside down in a swath of Microbots. Baymax's arms were tied to his sides.

"This ends now!" Callaghan thrust his arms at the pair.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, and again. Still nothing.

Hiro leaned forward smugly. "Looks like you're out of Microbots."

"Huh?" Callaghan looked down. Indeed, the only ones left were around his feet and the two in front of him. He looked back up.

"Baymax." Hiro commanded.

The bot burst out of the Professor's synthetic hold and rushed at him, fist out.

Callaghan seized up in panic, but the impact never came. He looked up.

The fist was all he could see.

He panted heavily in relief. They had spared him. _They had no reason to, yet they did._

Hiro looked over Baymax’s shoulder at him. "Our programming prevents us from injuring a human being. But,” He politely asked Baymax to destroy the mask. “We'll take that." It crumbled between gloved, plush fingers.

The Microbots went limp all round, and Callaghan flew up, kicking at the air. With less than a moment to spare, strong arms caught him and brought him down.

The portal plummeted without support, landing with a powerful, crushing impact. Smoke billowed away from the site like a tsunami.

Callaghan was dropped roughly on the ground, where he lay for a minute while his heartbeat slowed.

Baymax landed gently, as he had before the fight, and Hiro leaped to the ground, ready for action.

The portal sucked in some of the nearby fog, clearing the air around them. Hiro and Baymax turned to face it.

"It's still on! We have to shut it down!" Tadashi yelled.

Krei had been brought down by Honey. "We can't! The containment field is failing, the portal's gonna tear itself apart!"

Tadashi faced the group. "We need to get out of here, now!" He brought out his board and flew up for a better view, trying to find an exit. When he looked back he saw that the adults had bolted, but Hiro and Baymax remained. Tadashi went back to them.

"Hiro! You need to move!"

His brother stared fixedly at the portal.

"Hiro!" The adults had halted, staring oddly at the pair.

Tadashi heard a hum. It was faint at first, but it built up volume until it drowned out the noise of the portal. Then he realised. It _was_ the portal. This is what Hiro was hearing.

The tune was so sweet; it was cold, quiet and seductive, beckoning him closer. A hand grabbed his shoulder, shaking him out of his trance.

"Tadashi!" Honey yelled. "What're you doing?"

He was the closest to the portal, only being held back by Baymax. He hovered away.

Baymax pointed at the portal. "My sensor is detecting signs of life."

"What?" Tadashi asked.

"Coming from: there. The life signs are female. She appears to be in: hypersleep."

"Callaghan's daughter. She's still alive." The elder Hamada breathed.

Callaghan turned to the portal. "Abigail..."

Hiro climbed steadily onto Baymax. "Let's go get her."

Tadashi reached out, gripping his brother's elbow. "Hiro, no!"

_“I can hold it back. I can hold it back long enough to get her.”_ Hiro argued as he fixed his magnets into place, still not facing his brother.

_“Hiro, Rule 0.”_

_“You promised never to leave me again. I didn't.”_ He gave a few small tugs to ensure he was locked on, and Tadashi’s hand fell away in disbelief.

Krei tried to persuade the boy not to go. "The portal is destabilising. You'll never make it!"

Hiro turned his head to face the group. They gasped.

His irises had turned an electric blue, a shocking contrast to the dark hair that fell over them.

"She's alive in there. Someone has to help." With one last magnet-check, he leaned over Baymax’s wide shoulder. "What do you say, buddy?"

Baymax turned his head to face his primary patient. "Flying makes me a better healthcare companion."

He shot off the ground and high up, over the smoke, then back down. His thrusters activated again and they glided into the portal.

* * *

 Hiro's eyes adjusted to the atmosphere within the portal. _Woah_.

The world inside looked like flower petals and cotton candy had been smashed together. Colourful clouds swirled around each other. Hiro swore he could see faces in them. _“You seeing this, Tadashi?”_

* * *

 Screeching filled his ears. Tadashi deactivated his hoverboard and dropped to his knees, clutching at his head.

_"Tadashi!"_

“You seeing this, Tadashi?” Hiro's voice bounced around in his head, clearer than the frantic yells of his friends.

“Hiro, cut the link. It-“ he gasped in pain. “It hurts.” Colours blossomed behind his eyes. “It's amazing, I know. But I can't take it. It's too loud.” He curled in on himself, knocking off his helmet and hands running through his hair. He whimpered.

_"Dashi!"_

_"Dude, what's happening?"_

* * *

 Hiro's breathing hitched _. He was hurting Tadashi_.

_“I'm sorry! I'll stop! I'm holding on to the magnetic containment field, but I don't know how well I've got it. If it comes to it... leave without me, okay?”_

* * *

 Tadashi could hear tears in his brother's voice. “ _Hiro_ -“

_“Trust me.”_

His heart ripped in two. He needed to be there for his brother, but it hurt too much. The least he could do was protect the rest of them.

_“O-Okay.”_

“ _Good_.” Hiro's voice began to fade, and the pain went with it. _“I'm blocking it now. See you on the other side.”_ He joked mirthlessly.

And just like that, Tadashi was alone.

He sucked in a breath. _So that's how Hiro felt before..._

His eyes widened, throbbing painfully from his sensory assault, but he could see again. His breathing was uneven and ragged.

“ _Hiro?”_ His call was a whisper. There was no response. He shuddered.

"Tadashi, you okay man?" Fred was crouched beside him.

"Dashi, what happened?"

He was on the ground, lying on his right side. His helmet was off and he had his left hand through his hair. He gripped his scalp tighter as his head throbbed again and with agonising slowness, uncurled from his position and sat up.

He glanced at the group. His friends - and even Krei - were looking down at him in concern.

Callaghan could only stare at what Tadashi held. "A bandana?"

Tadashi looked at his hand. He was grasping Wasabi's bandana in a death-grip. _Oops_.

Callaghan and Krei weren't supposed to find out. But they'd seen Hiro. They were smart men, and they knew there was something off. There was no use in hiding anything.

Tadashi stood with the help of Fred. "Hiro... Hiro told us to leave if the portal went too far. He b-blocked the link. I-I can't hear him." He was shivering.

GoGo observed Tadashi’s behaviour for a moment, then clicked her tongue resolutely. "Withdrawal." It was more of a statement than a question.

Tadashi twitched at her voice but nodded fervently. "S-Something l-like that."

GoGo nodded and turned to the rest of the team. "We need to keep him distracted until Hiro comes back.” Tadashi was glad to recognise that she had so much faith in his brother.

GoGo started barking orders. “Fred, keep him warm. Honey, you got anything in there that's scented? We're gonna need it. Wasabi, gather rubble. Large pieces, the biggest you can carry." She turned to the elder men. "Krei, with Fred. Callaghan, with Wasabi." She eyed Callaghan. "If you put one _toe_ out of line, don't expect to remember your birthday tomorrow." she hissed.

Callaghan gulped and watched the short student warily. He admired that she had the gall to talk to him like that, even though he had attempted to kill them. Many times. He hurried after Wasabi.

GoGo stayed with Tadashi and hugged him tight, guiding him to a fallen concrete pillar which they used as a seat. It helped with the shuddering, a little.

* * *

 "Careful, there's Krei Tech debris everywhere." Hiro warned. He shivered at the emptiness in his head, suddenly realising how cold this portal space was.

Baymax weaved through bits of rubble and glass, Hiro leaning into the moves. They came across a large section of window. "Look out!"

Hiro jumped onto the curved glass and ran along it, keeping Baymax in sight. He managed to jump through a hole in the glass and was caught by the nursebot.

Baymax held him close. "I have located the patient." He turned his head up and Hiro followed his gaze. He spotted the same pod from the surveillance footage.

"Hurry!" He climbed back onto the magnets and Baymax rocketed towards it. The bot's legs curved around as they approached, absorbing their momentum. Baymax caught the pod.

Hiro swiped frost off of the glass and peered inside. He found Callaghan's daughter, and saw faint breaths condensate on the glass of her helmet. "Come on buddy, let's get her home."

Baymax maneuvered the pod so that it faced the portal and activated his thrusters.

"I'll guide you out of here. Let's go!" Hiro proffered as they sped towards debris. "Veer right! Okay, to the left! Hard right! Up and over!" Baymax complied, not missing a beat.

"Okay level off. Easy..." They glided through another broken section of glass, making a beeline for the exit. "Woohoo! Nice flying!"

Hiro's still-blue eyes stared hopefully at the portal. They were going to make it. He turned back and grinned at Baymax. "Almost there!" He didn't see the chunk of concrete that drifted towards them.

Baymax twisted the pod so that it and Hiro were shielded by him. The concrete smashed into him, destroying the majority of his armour. He slowly floated away.

Hiro looked about in panic as he felt the tight embrace shift away from him. "Baymax!"

The robot blinked at his predicament.

* * *

 Wasabi leaned over a heavy piece of rubble that was serving as a blockade; too heavy to be moved at this distance and large enough to protect him from the vacuum. The portal was eating away at parts of itself. _Come on, Hiro._

He turned back to his work and carefully observed his old professor. They wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for him. They could all be in their labs, working on a project, or having lunch in the cafeteria. They could be living normal lives but instead here they were, collecting rubble to distract their friend who was panicking from not being able to hear his brother's thoughts. He chuckled darkly to himself. _What is_ wrong _with us?_

"Let's head back." He said, satisfied with what they'd compiled. A small fire was set in the middle of the group where they rested near the entrance to what was the courtyard. Honey had managed to spear one of her bombs - constructed from emergency components kept in her pockets - and stick it over the flames, releasing a delicate wisp of pink smoke. GoGo had an arm around Tadashi and held him tight. His legs were bouncing rapidly while they sat on a relatively stable piece of debris. He stared into the fire and bit his bottom lip.

"Hey." Wasabi greeted. His friends nodded at him but Tadashi kept his gaze fixed on the blaze. GoGo waved him over.

Wasabi looked over at Krei, who stood to the side and watched in concern and fear. He turned back to GoGo. "Are you sure about this?" he hissed. "If Krei doesn't suspect anything, he sure as heck will after this."

GoGo sighed, twisting around to face Krei. "He already saw Hiro, and how Tadashi reacted when the little guy went after Abigail.” she whispered. “The best we can do is hope he doesn't snitch on them."

She turned back to her friends, facing Tadashi. "Tadashi? Hey, we got some stuff for you to mess around with. You're gonna hurt your eyes if you keep staring into the fire."

Tadashi nodded. "Thanks buddy." Without breaking his gaze, he lifted the stones and rubble out of Wasabi's hands and they drifted towards him. Callaghan fumbled when his own burden was suddenly lifted. Tadashi cupped his hand and fluttered his fingers, making the objects spin around each other. It looked pretty complicated, almost like a miniature solar system; smaller rocks orbiting larger ones.

Wasabi smiled at the look on Krei's face, realising that's probably what they had looked like the first time Tadashi had shown them. Krei looked around at the team, sizing up their reactions. Callaghan had a more stoic expression on, but his gentle blue eyes were wide in wonder.

Wasabi gave them a look that caught their attention. The men turned to him for an explanation, but he held up his hand. "Don't ask."

* * *

 "Baymax!" Hiro stood on the pod and reached an arm out.

The robot leaned forward and was pushed to Hiro by a small kick from his boots. "My thrusters are: inoperable."

"Just, grab hold!"

Baymax coasted over to the boy and gripped a gloved hand. Hiro pulled him down so they could both hold on to the pod. He glanced over his shoulder at their exit.

"There is still a way I can get you both to safety."

Hiro turned back in confusion, watching the robot's movements. He gasped when he noticed what the bot was trying to do.

"I cannot deactivate until you say: you are satisfied with your care." Baymax instructed gently, fixing his remaining rocket fist in place.

"No, nononono, wait, wh-what about you?" Hiro began to panic, his mind working too fast for his mouth to keep up.

" _You_ are my patient."

"B-B-Baymax!"

" _Your_ health is my only concern."

"Stop! I can get us both out of here, I can use the thrusters on the pod-"

"Not in your condition. You are damaging yourself by containing the portal." Even as Baymax said this, a thin trickle of blood was slowly making its way down Hiro’s sinus.

"I'm gonna figure out-"

"Are you satisfied with your care?"

"No! There's gotta be another way, I'm not gonna leave you here! I'll think of something-"

"There is no time. Are you satisfied with your care?" Baymax questioned softly.

"Please, no..." Hiro sobbed. "I ca-an't lose you too."

"Hiro." If a robot had facial expressions, Baymax would look most sincere. "I will always be with you."

Tears escaped. Hiro clasped on to the bot's non-existent neck, sobbing loudly. A single plush arm embraced him in return.

Baymax had become like family to him, like another brother. He cared deeply for him, and Baymax cared for Hiro as more than a patient. They had become companions in the short few days they'd known each other. Hiro couldn't... he didn't want to... lose...

He pulled back from the hug, sniffling. His voice was thick as he said the fatal statement.

"I am satisfied with my care."

Baymax blinked and nodded in confirmation. He leaned away as he released the rocket fist.

Hiro, jolted by his inertia, could only watch as Baymax was propelled away by the force of the blast that freed his patients. Hiro lost sight of Baymax after a few seconds, the wrecked body of his friend consumed by tears and the portal’s glaring entrance.

* * *

 Wasabi glanced over his shoulder as the portal started glowing red-hot. Honey followed his gaze.

_They're not gonna make it._

_They're gonna make it._

Tadashi stiffened beside GoGo, back straightening and breath hitching. The stones dropped. A warm, small smile graced his face. _They're gonna make it._

An object burst forth from the portal and crashed heavily to the ground. The portal’s surface turned a sickly purple and promptly exploded. The team crouched lower behind their makeshift shield but Tadashi vaulted it and ran at the projectile as it slid to a stop.

A slumped figure sagged off the pod, landing on unresponsive legs. He collapsed to the ground, shuddering. He was breathing heavily. The fist shut down.

"Hiro!" Wasabi yelled.

"Yeah they made it!" Fred exclaimed.

Tadashi flowed to a stop, dropping to his knees at his brother's side. "Hiro?"

Shivering, Hiro lazily turned his head up. The last of the blue faded away, revealing soft brown.

Tadashi pulled of Hiro's helmet, allowing him to breathe a little easier. He helped Hiro into a semi-standing position as the rest of the group approached.

Wasabi's face fell, sadness replacing joy. "Baymax?"

Hiro shook his head. The team slowed to a walk.

Honey looked alarmed. "Hiro, are you okay?"

Tadashi hadn't taken his eyes off of his little brother, and had noticed a steady trickle of blood from Hiro's nose. Hiro smudged it away, still panting, and nodded. He wiped at his cheeks too.

"B-Baymax used his... I c-couldn't get the pod to work a-at the same time..." He wiped at his face again, standing up a little straighter and looking around. "Where're Callaghan and Krei?"

"Over here." GoGo walked up, dragging the older men by their ears. Tadashi inwardly chuckled at the resemblance with his aunt when she let go.

Hiro eyed the pair before turning more fully to face Robert. He placed his left arm - the one not currently around Tadashi's shoulders - on the side of the pod and his eyes flashed blue for a brief instant. The domed glass, covered in frost, hissed and opened at his command. The pilot was still unconscious inside.

The ex-professor's breath caught. "Abigail..."

"Take a good, long look at her, Callaghan,” Hiro advised, “'cause I have a feeling you won't be here when she wakes up."

Tadashi was concerned about the coldness in his brother's voice. It didn't belong to a fourteen-year-old.

As Hiro finished speaking, sirens could be heard in the distance. Hiro faced Krei.

"If you wouldn't mind, we'd prefer that you don't tell anyone what you've seen. It would make it easier for everyone, don't you think?" Some of the boyishness was back in him, trying to sound a little nicer to an almost-innocent victim.

Krei glanced around at the group, each member returning looks of worry and fear. He turned back to the Hamadas and the deed the youngest had done for a man who had almost killed them on multiple occasions. He pulled a genuine smile.

"I think we can come to an agreement."

They all visibly relaxed and the brothers nodded tiredly back at him. Tadashi laid out the terms. "No press, no interviews, no identification. We remain hidden, you don't tell anyone who any of us are. A group of colourfully-dressed individuals saved the three of you from a disaster, that's it." He held out his right hand. "Deal?"

Krei didn't hesitate to shake. He gripped Tadashi's hand firmly and looked into his eyes. They were honest and true. "I will work to the best of my ability to keep you guys under the radar. If anything is reported, you can be sure it wasn't me. Besides," his eyes flickered between the two brothers. "I wouldn't want to get on your bad side."

Hiro stood on his own and shook the businessman's hand too. "Thank you, Mr Krei. We appreciate your efforts." He turned his back and received his helmet from Tadashi, who had donned his own. "Sorry about the building, and all."

Krei chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you did your best. That's all I need to know."

The team nodded in gratitude before activating the tints in their visors. Honey threw a jelly bomb at Callaghan's feet, immobilising him. "Sorry, Professor." she said apologetically. She threw another at the base of the building and bounced away. Fred followed shortly after, trailed by Wasabi. GoGo raced up the curve of some detached segment of wall and soared across to the roof.

Tadashi kicked his hoverboard into gear, helping Hiro onto it. Hiro twisted his neck around to speak one last time. "I'll see you guys in the news."

The two flew away as police and paramedics rushed into the wreckage.

* * *

 Someone was talking to her.

"Miss, can you hear me? What is your name?"

Her throat hurt. Why didn't they know her name?

"A-Abigail... Callaghan." Her eyes fluttered open. She was moving, or being moved, on a stretcher. A woman walked alongside her, looking into her eyes with concern.

"Okay, Abigail. You are gonna be fine, we're taking you to the hospital."

The hospital? Why...

A light shone into her eyes. She blinked at the harsh brightness. The medics lifted her into an ambulance and one took a seat beside her.

Before the doors shut, she caught a glimpse of colourful dots atop a grey building.

What?

She blinked some more and the dots vanished.

Just an afterimage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A heartbreaking song. If you watch the portal scene along with it, you are guaranteed tears. Warrantee not valid for those who have played/watched 'To the Moon.' Actually, if someone would make a video with sad clips from BH6 along with lines from the song, "Everything's Alright", PM me and I could write you a one-shot in thanks. It would make me so happy. :'D  
> Also, if it wasn't obvious, I know nothing about how to deal with withdrawal symptoms. GoGo's experience is all made up. But, it is the future. Who knows what kind of withdrawal she's seen?


	14. Epilogue: Hello, Hamadas.

_”A massive cleanup continues today at the headquarters of Krei Tech Industries.”_ A male reporter babbled. _“Reports are still flooding in about a group of unidentified individuals who prevented what_ could've _been a major catastrophe. The whole city of San Fransokyo is asking: Who are these heroes, and where are they now?"_

Hiro greeted his friends at the small cafe table. Upon seeing him the group of students got up to leave while Tadashi returned their dishes to the kitchen, wearing grey sneakers, jeans and a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Honey waited for him and started chatting to Hiro.

"Hey Sweetie." Aunt Cass brought out lunches for her boys and placed them on the table. Hiro hugged his aunt and picked up his lunch, heading out. Tadashi grabbed his own bag and hug, following shortly after. Aunt Cass turned away to tend to her customers when she felt thin arms wrap around her waist.

"Last hug."

She squeezed Hiro back until he slowly pulled away. She waved after them and they left the building.

"Bye!"

* * *

 

They released a collective sigh of relief as they entered the campus. No-one seemed to recognise them. That was good. Very good.

They were able to get back into old routines almost as easily as they'd slipped out of them. A few people here and there asked where they were the day before, but they gave a simple excuse; they had been helping Tadashi catch up on schoolwork together, and it took them all day. Luckily he hadn't been assigned any projects, so it was mostly just 'notes' and 'catch-up questions'.

They entered their open lab and got to work, modifying their old projects and creating upgrades for their suits - not that anyone outside the team cared. Tadashi and Hiro were allowed to share their office, which they were excited about. The brothers could help each other with troublesome projects and inventions, and could spend most of their day together. It was when Hiro brought his tools into the office that he went quiet.

Obviously Tadashi noticed, and could feel something was off. He stared at the back of his little brother's head intensely.

Hiro shivered. "Could you not?"

Tadashi chuckled. "Not what?"

"Stare at me."

"I can't help it. You're so ugly."

Hiro didn't even roll his eyes. They were set on a closed cardboard box.

"Tadashi?" he asked, resting his hand on the box.

"Yeah?"

"Do you hate me?"

He was stunned by the question. He knew this was what had been bugging his brother as soon as he said it, because the feeling increased dramatically.

"Why would I hate you?"

"Because of Baymax."

"Hiro, that wasn't your fault."

"But I could've let go of the portal long enough to use the pod's thrusters, and then-"

"Baymax knew you couldn't. He saved you Hiro. Don't regret it, please. Be thankful he did when he did. I am."

Hiro kept his back to his brother, and his gaze on the box.

Tadashi turned to leave before an idea came to him. "We could rebuild him, if you wanted. Even if it took another eighty-four tries, we could get it right together." He infused his voice with hope.

"It wouldn't be the same. He's not that replaceable." Hiro mumbled.

Tadashi sighed, knowing his brother was right. It wouldn't have the same experiences as the old Baymax; it would be a copy. It wouldn't share their memories in its recorded data. They would have to re-teach it their handshakes and expressions. They couldn't do that to Baymax.

"I'll, uh, go get our schedules then."

Silence. Before he left, he heard a metallic _thunk_ come from the other side of his door accompanied by an "Ow."

Was it sad that he half-expected Baymax to activate?

"Tadashi!” GoGo screamed. “Fred used my indefinite refinement laser and left it on a shelf! Do you _know_ what he used it for?" GoGo's voice dripped with hatred. "He used it to _cut the crust off a sandwich!_ "

The elder Hamada chuckled to himself and went to help his friend, who was short in both temper and stature. The office door closed behind him.

Hiro exhaled loudly. _I can't just leave the box here. Might as well take it out now._

He opened the box that encased a giant red and black gauntlet. He lifted the empty piece of armour, grunting softly, and heaved it onto a storage shelf. He rested an arm on it and admired how much it had done for him. This was a creation he would never lose. He smiled.

_Bump_.

"Bah-a-la-la-la." He shook his head in amusement and wandered away to unpack the rest of his things. He turned back for a final look.

Something gleamed in the palm.

_What_ -

He uncurled three huge fingers and a thumb, eyes widening at what he found.

A simple doctor's face smiled back at him underneath the name, _TADASHI HAMADA._

_“Tadashi!”_

He heard a _thump_ followed by heavy footfalls before his brother burst through the door. "What is it?" he panted. He rubbed the back of his head but he looked ready for a fight.

"Look." Hiro whispered, moving aside.

Tadashi took in the scene before him. The empty, open box. Baymax's rocket fist. The green chip.

"He was here the whole time." Hiro smiled through teary eyes.

Tadashi adopted his signature face-splitting smile that he wore whenever his work was finally complete. "Then what are we waiting for?"

* * *

 

_“Tadashi!”_

GoGo started as the elder Hamada jolted on the step-ladder, hitting his head on the shelf above him. He bounded off the top step and raced to his office, cursing to himself. He practically kicked the door down. "What is it?" she heard him yell.

Hiro said something to him, to which he replied, and their office door clicked shut behind him.

She shook her head. _I'll just ask Honey to get it._

* * *

 

Every fifteen minutes one of the brothers would sprint out of the room and yell, "Need this!" before racing back with someone else's tools.

They were almost late to their first lesson; a general class that every mechanic was required to take. Honey and Fred were the only ones missing.

The brothers ran in, with only thirty seconds to spare, and collapsed into their chairs. Tadashi had only brought his textbook and a blue pen, and Hiro only had time to grab a spare notebook and a red pen. Without hesitating, they split the stationary between them: Tadashi laid the textbook in the middle of the table and they both placed their pens above it, then Hiro ripped out several pages of his book and handed them to his brother.

Wasabi shook his head. It was almost scary how cooperative they were now. Then he remembered a certain involuntarily offered tissue on the trolley the other day. He shuddered. _Please tell me_ I _did that._

He squeaked when he heard a cheeky voice answer _, “Hehe, nope. S-Sorry. I didn't mean to, I swear.”_

The _space_ still felt open, so he replied. _“Not cool, man. Not cool.”_

* * *

 

It was nearing lunchtime, and Honey's Enhanced Chemistry class always ended earlier than the others' classes. She set down a tray of her namesake tea and turned back to get the cookies.

She jumped when the lab's double doors burst open with a bang and two figures sprinted in.

"Tadashi? Hiro?"

"Thanks-Honey-Lemon-but-we-have-something-we-need-to-do-right-now-so-maybe-later!" Hiro shut their office door behind them.

She shook her head. Those boys were up to something. It seemed pretty important to them, so she let it slide. But, by her collection of three-inch heels, she was going to give them tea. And it would be the best tea they'd ever had.

* * *

 

Fred tossed away his comic. He couldn't concentrate with all the noise coming from the Hamada office. He decided to do something about it.

He strolled up to the door, but froze when he heard the conversation on the other side.

"Hiro could you test it?"

"Just a sec... ow, ah! No, no, no, no. The left arm's completely messed up!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

The door clicked open. Fred found Hiro massaging his left shoulder while Tadashi fiddled with some wires from their project. They hadn't noticed him come in.

"Hey guys, could you keep it down-" Fred began.

"Sorry, not now." Tadashi, still absorbed in his task, waved his hand and the door slammed shut in Fred's face.

He stood there in shock. Whatever they were doing must've been really important to risk exposure like that. He was sure they didn't know it was him, yet they'd used their powers in the face of a possible stranger.

Fred shook his head. They were lucky the last few students had left over an hour ago, or they would all be in some serious trouble.

GoGo sneered at him, having seen what went down. He stuck his tongue out in return and tried getting back to his comic.

The voices continued from the office.

"Try it now."

"It would be nice if it had legs, don'tcha think?!"

* * *

 

_Five-year-old Tadashi glared dangerously at his project, giving it the best death-stare that he could manage for a pile of scraps and screws. He crossed his arms with a loud huffing breath, achieving nothing but a single, small nut to roll free of the heap. Right into the proximity of a tiny, pudgy hand._

_Bright brown eyes gleamed as the hand reached out for the shiny object. Tadashi didn’t worry about it. He was too frustrated with the manual and besides, Hiro already knew not to eat small, shiny objects._

_Hiro knew they weren’t food, especially the pieces that could fit in his hand. Sometimes he saw Dashi and Ma and Dad using shiny things to eat, but they didn’t eat the shiny things themselves, so neither would he._

_Anyway, he didn’t want to ruin Dashi’s toy. It didn’t look like a fun toy, why was Dashi just looking at it? Hiro, slipping the nut onto a finger, half crawled-half slid over to the manual – happy that Ma had chosen his soft, light blue PJ’s that day - and stared at the picture. He decided that it looked funny, and a partially-toothed grin broke out between his pale pink cheeks. He looked up at Dashi, who sat in front of him on the floor, and tapped a palm on the picture, wanting to share the joke with his brother._

_Tadashi glanced over at Hiro and his face softened slightly. Returning his gaze to the metallic heap, he recrossed his legs to temporarily cure the weird pins and needles feeling and thought about whether he should stop trying and relax. Then he wouldn’t be so stressed. Yeah, it would be easier just to stop. Holding his head in his hands, elbows on knees, he groaned in defeat and rubbed his face._

_Hiro’s smile faded when he saw that Dashi didn’t laugh with him. He looked down at the instruction book again, tapping a short, beatless tune on the floor with his hands. He’d never seen writing that looked like this before. He twisted his head one way, then the other. The letters seemed better sideways, to Hiro. Doing his best to keep balanced on just his legs and bottom, Hiro used his thin fingers to knock the book sideways over and over until the letters looked the best he could get them. Suddenly, the toy looked more normal, better like the letters did. Hiro slammed the book again with vigour, making quite the racket against the polished wooden floor, but stopped when Dashi spoke._

_“Hiro, please, quit it.”_

_Hiro smiled again. Dashi sounded funny, talking into his hands. Hiro hit the picture once more because it looked like the best way to get Dashi’s attention. When that didn’t work, Hiro tried another tactic. With as much strength as he could muster in his chubby arms, he leaned over and pushed the book towards Dashi, but that plan went downhill. The manual ploughed through the half-assembled toy, effectively shattering and scattering the pieces. They made a pretty tinkling sound as they tumbled._

_“Hiro!” Tadashi screamed. What was_ wrong _with his brother? Didn’t he see that he was working hard on building the toy? And then he just breaks it!_

_Hiro jumped at Dashi’s sudden temper. Dashi was acting weird. He never shouted like that before, and at Hiro too! Did that mean he’d done something bad? Hiro knew he should say he was sorry; Ma and Dad always made Dashi say he was sorry when he broke stuff. Now if only he could talk. He didn’t care much for talking. People could understand him good enough without words, so why bother?_

_Hiro ignored Tadashi’s yelling while he thought about how he could say he was sorry. The solution came to him suddenly._ I know! _He got to work gathering the pieces and shoving them into a pile. He was gonna build the toy for Dashi, and make it the best-ever ‘I’m sorry’ present. Dashi kept shouting but Hiro didn’t know a lot of the words, so he wasn’t paying attention. Then, something in Dashi’s voice made him stop and turn around._

_That something sounded familiar; Hiro knew he made that noise a lot when he was sad. Was Dashi sad? He couldn’t tell. Dashi had his knees curled up to hide his face, with his arms linked together tightly in front of his legs. Every so often he would shake suddenly but Hiro couldn’t see any tears, so he guessed Dashi was okay. He continued organising the pieces in a heap._

_Tears of frustration soaked into Tadashi’s jeans, staining the already dull-blue material. He knew Hiro was just a baby, but why would he break Tadashi’s toy for no reason? It was unfair! Each sob felt like a punch to the chest, jarring and unexpected as they came._

_Light yet clunky footsteps sounded from the corridor but Tadashi kept his head down and tried to steady himself._ There should only be one baby in the room, _he reminded himself._

_The footsteps stopped nearby and Tadashi could practically feel the decisive gaze coming from his father. He heard the rustle of clothes amid Hiro’s disruptive tinkling as the man sat beside Tadashi._

_“Hey, buddy. What’s up?” called a familiar voice from Tadashi’s right. Tadashi turned his head away, burrowing deeper into his left elbow. His exposed cheek felt cold without the heat from his knees and breath._

_A moment passed like this until he felt his father move again. The tall man stood and stretched his back, evident by the muffled_ pops _that signalled cracking joints. Tadashi blinked away a silent tear. He heard Hiro giggle at something and suddenly he was staring into bright green eyes. Did he mention that the head they were attached to was upside-down? His father, still standing on Tadashi’s right, had doubled at the waist and was now leaning over Tadashi’s small frame. His dirty-blond hair, which normally sat neatly atop his head, flopped towards the ground revealing its full, three inch length. His black, square-framed glasses slowly tilted towards the floor and would have fallen if not for the forehead in the way._

_“Hel-lo sir,” his father, Thomas, began in a dramatic accent. “Have you seen my son?”_

_Tadashi buried his head between his knees once more, trying to hide the grin that was slowly creeping up on his face._

_Thomas continued. “Black hair, brown eyes and the biggest smile you’ve ever seen?”_

_Without looking up, Tadashi pointed over at Hiro, who was now laughing hysterically at their father’s antics, the toy all but forgotten._

_“Hmm,” Thomas strode over to Hiro and swept him up into the air, holding the little boy above his head. Hiro squealed in delight as Thomas turned him around, getting a good look at him all over. “Why, yes, this is one of my sons but I’m looking for the other, and,” he held Hiro in the palm of one large hand and presented him to Tadashi like a trophy, “I distinctly remember him being taller.”_

_Tadashi’s face remained hidden while Hiro leaned back and fell onto Thomas’ forearm, reaching out for his father’s head._

_Thomas’ smile faltered when he received no response. So he tried again. He caressed Hiro’s chest in one hand and supported the baby’s legs with the other, quietly walking over to his oldest son and doubling again at the waist. Now Hiro was level with Tadashi’s head._

_Hiro wiggled his arms in glee – it felt like he was flying! – and reached his arms out to show Dashi. Little fingers curled in thick, dark strands and held tight._

_Tadashi’s head lifted enough to peek his eyes out at Hiro. He couldn’t move much farther with his scalp being pulled off._

_The hand beneath Hiro’s legs slowly came away and pried the persistent fingers out of Tadashi’s hair, with a soft “Gentle, Hiro.” being whispered behind the small body. Hiro let go and instead opted to squish Tadashi’s cheeks, which eventually brought the rest of his face into view._

_Tadashi’s cheeks were red from rubbing against his jeans, and his eyes a little less so from tears. Another was following a track that ran alongside his nostril, which he swiped away with irritation. He sniffed again and felt Hiro’s hands pull away suddenly. Looking up once more, he found his brother’s plump face cast with worry. It seemed weird on a baby; normally he only saw that expression on their parents when they thought he couldn’t see them. Why did it always seem to be aimed at him?_

_He heard the rattle of keys and the front door opening, and the_ flap _of flat shoes against the floor. “Sorry I’m late boys, that Matsuda lady kept me in the car park at work today. Trying to talk about the latest fashion in one-piece swimsuits, at her age?” she muttered. Their mother tossed her keys on the shelf by the door and hurried towards the kitchen, only to pull back at the sight that met her in the living room._

_The mess of parts, an upset boy and her goofball of a husband trying to help. When he heard her walk in, his head twisted over his shoulder with a desperate plea on his lips, mouthing the word ‘Help’._

_Maemi’s face softened and she shuffled over to the trio. “Tadashi, what’s wrong?” She took a better look around and spied the instruction manual beside him. So it was something about the toy. She picked up the book and inspected it, kneeling down in front of Tadashi. Her fitted, black pantsuit crinkled quietly as she settled._

_Tadashi finally spoke, his voice wavering in supressed agitation. “It’s too hard to make, an’ then I was halfway done, I think, an’ Hiro went an’ broke it for no reason!”_

_Maemi looked again at the front cover of the manual. “Tada, honey, this set is for ages twelve and over.”_

_Now Tadashi had calmed down mostly, but was still clearly bummed about his problem. “I know.” he sniffed. “I finished all the other ones.” He was muttering at this point._

_Thomas took a seat next to his wife, placing Hiro on his lap. Hiro squirmed for a moment and put his feet on his father’s calves, doing a strange little bouncing-dance when Thomas supported him under his arms. “Well, how did those turn out?”_

_“I made ‘em okay. They don’t do much.” Tadashi found a screw and fiddled with it, balancing the head on a knuckle. His eyes focused on the screw, instead of on his parents. “Maybe I’ll jus’ go back to those. This one’s annoying.” He glanced briefly at Hiro before returning his gaze to the screw._

_Thomas smiled sadly, understanding his son’s grief. “Tadashi, you shouldn’t give up on something just because it’s annoying. How long did those other toys take to build?”_

_“An hour or two.” came the mumbled reply._

_“And how long have you been at this one?” continued his father._

_“Almos’ two hours.” The screw fell from Tadashi’s finger. “An’ I’m back at the beginning.” An arm flew out, gesturing to the pile of parts, before returning to hold his knees._

_“Hey, buddy, come on.” Thomas settled Hiro into sitting on his thigh and bounced him gently. “You knew this one was going to be tough, right?”_

_Tadashi nodded minutely._

_“Then why’d you want to make it in the first place?” His father’s tone was more curious than scolding; it was a simple, placid question._

_“I dunno.” Tadashi shrugged. “The other ones were easy, an’ I wanted to see if I could make the harder one. But every time I try, I’ve either done it wrong or it breaks.” Another pointed glare at his brother._

_“Tadashi,” his father began. “When I went to school, I wanted something very much. But it took a lot of time and patience to understand.” Hiro twisted around to lean on Maemi, a powerful grip placed on her forearm. “At one point, I thought it would be easy to give up too. Then I realised, if I gave up, everything I’d done would’ve been for nothing. I’d be starting from step one, with no clue what to do next. It was a very confusing time for me.”_

_Tadashi listened to Thomas, wide-eyed._ But Dad’s never confused. He’s smart, he always knows what to do.

_“So I decided to keep going. First, though, I needed to take a step back and think. I had to ask myself, ‘Do I really want this?’”_

_Tadashi lowered his knees, straightening his legs slightly and leaning forward. “An’ whadid ya say?”_

_Hiro squirmed into their mother’s lap, almost tumbling in but reflexively being caught by Maemi. She settled him in a pose that was comfortable for both of them, and Hiro tapped the book again._

_Thomas smiled. “Yes. I wanted it so much.” His eyes gleamed as he shared a knowing look with Maemi. “And you know what?”_

_Tadashi crossed his legs, thinking about his father’s story. Half distracted, he blinked and answered, “What?”_

_Thomas dove forward and pulled Tadashi towards him, rolling onto his back and lifting the boy into the air. He used the bottoms of his huge feet as supports for Tadashi’s stomach. “I wanted you too.” He turned his head to the rest of his family, one of whom was smiling supportively while the other was flailing the manual around and squealing. Holding onto Tadashi’s arm with one hand, he reached out with the other and held his wife’s hand briefly. “And I wanted you,” and when Maemi took a small, pudgy hand and placed it around his thumb, Thomas felt warmth bloom through his chest. “And you too.”_

_Tadashi grinned madly, his sadness forgotten as he tried to stay balanced on his tummy. Hiro absolutely screamed, in that happy way that babies do, and proceeded to hurl the manual at his father’s face. It was met with a muffled “Ow.”_

_Tadashi eyed the book, the object of his torment over the past couple of hours. It had landed open, covers facing up, on the bridge of his father’s nose. “Took a step back…?” he mumbled._

_Hiro pointed at the book and giggled maniacally._

_The front cover, on the left and upside-down, displayed the toy as it would look once it was completed. The back cover, on the right, showed steps on how to connect the joints. They were also upside-down._

_Tadashi’s eyes widened. “Wait, wait, wait.” He pointed his feet to the ground and Thomas lowered him down, sensing the shift in weight and not wanting to drop Tadashi. As soon as he touched down, Tadashi snatched up the booklet and knee-slid to the pile of parts, sorting them once more by size and shape._

_Thomas blinked at the sudden brightness revealed by the manual and sat up, fixing his glasses which had been knocked askew. He sidled up next to Maemi and helped her stand with Hiro still in her arms, then they turned to face their toy-possessed son. Hiro struggled for a moment until Maemi placed him on the floor and he eagerly crawled over, holding out a hand. Tadashi delicately plucked the nut from a tiny ring finger and donned a heart-stopping smile. He picked up a large block – the literal centrepiece of the toy – and got to work._

_Maemi placed an arm around her husband’s waist and he did the same with her shoulders, brushing his hand over her head to muss up her work-perfect, raven-black hair. Her soft brown eyes rolled in mock annoyance and returned to meet his own apple greens. She gazed fondly at her sons and smirked. “I guess he’s seeing it from a new angle.”_

_Two hours later and the toy was complete. Except, to heck with the manual! This was even better!_

_Where the toy was supposed to walk and move its arms, Tadashi had connected parts that_ Shouldn’t go there but fit all the same _and_ I guess this could go here _where the motor had inputs. Now, with the flick of a switch on the motor (which should have been the toy’s back), the_ new _toy pulled its limbs in and transformed into a skeletal base of a car with wheels that moved. The switched moved to a position that looked like the car’s radio antenna._

_Tadashi played with the toy-car for the rest of the afternoon._

_Best. Robotics kit._ Ever.

* * *

 

Tadashi awoke to someone talking.

"Hey guys? It's getting pretty late, so I just came in here to check up on you. Good thing I did, 'cause they would've locked you in here. Its past eleven, dude. You going home?"

Tadashi reached up to cover a yawn, surprised by the screwdriver that fell from his hand. The noise woke Hiro from his sleep on the revolving desk chair, kicking forward slightly as he came to consciousness. He snorted away a snore, abruptly closing his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah we're coming. Thanks, Wasabi." Tadashi grimaced as he slowly stood up, tailbone aching from its time between the hard floor and the wooden desk. He did a few stretches and ruffled Hiro's hair. He was half-asleep.

"Come on, buddy. We still have tomorrow."

Hiro jumped awake again and his eyes immediately drooped. Nevertheless, he got up from the chair and stifled a yawn, shivering. He picked up his spare riding helmet with his left hand and massaged his sore shoulder with his right. He blearily stumbled out of their office as Tadashi flicked off the lights and locked up.

They still had tomorrow, and they were _so close_.

* * *

 

They stared at the red transport case.

"You think it's ready?" Tadashi fretted.

Hiro shrugged. "Seems charged."

"Is it active?"

"It's humming, so probably."

They stared some more in silence. Tadashi turned to his brother.

"You do it."

Hiro was startled. "A-Are you sure?"

"Why not? You found the chip. You were the last face he saw. You should be the one he sees when he comes back."

Hiro's face remained blank until a small smile graced his lips. "Okay. Here goes."

He faced the container and Tadashi placed a hand on Hiro's right shoulder.

"Ow?"

* * *

 

His cameras activated as his body inflated.

"I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

The boy placed a hand in his hair, smiling in disbelief. The older male grinned in relief.

"Hello, Hamadas."

Hiro laughed and dropped his hand. Baymax stepped out of his charging station into the swift embrace of small, bony arms. He leaned into the hug and closed his eyelids, wrapping fresh vinyl around the figure. He uncovered his cameras to see Tadashi smiling gratefully at him.

"You are one smart robot, you know that, Marshmallow?"

"I am not a marshmallow. I am Baymax. You programmed me to take the best course of action that would cause my patients the least amount of harm. I did so."

"Yeah," Hiro sobbed lightly. "You did great." He smiled in contentment, happy to remain in the nursebot's hold. Tadashi joined in, leaning over Hiro and crushing him into the soft white belly.

That's how the team found them when they walked in that morning.

* * *

 

He walked down the many blank hallways that led to the prisoner's solitary confinement chamber. Of all the people who could have occupied the cell, it had to be a world-renowned roboticist. He was such a good man too.

The guard sitting outside the cell straightened up at the sight of him, standing from the plastic chair and saluting. He nodded in return and the guard opened the eye slot in the thick door.

"This better be good, Robert, or I'll have your sentence extended indefinitely."

"That's technically impossible, General. I'm already in here for life." Callaghan joked through the slot. "But, I promise you, this will be well worth your time and more." His eyes gleamed.

The General waited patiently for him to continue.

Callaghan glared at his guard as he would a troublesome student. "I suggest the information I am about to give remain in the hands of the highest class of personnel. It isn't for the faint of heart."

The General eyed the guard until he got the message. He walked down the long hallway and turned into a small office. Not a security room, more like a staff room.

"Continue."

Callaghan nodded. "I suggest you take a seat." His gaze flickered to the plastic chair.

Getting impatient, the General stuffed his frame into that of the small seat. It looked almost comical. "I don't have all day, Robert, unlike you."

Callaghan took the remark pretty well, barely rolling his eyes. "I summoned you here regarding the group of unidentified vigilantes that have recently surfaced among the streets of San Fransokyo. More importantly, two of these members have... uncanny abilities."

The General stiffened. This conversation just got a whole lot more interesting. "Do you know their identities?"

"You could say that. You might even say I have solid proof. But what kind of prisoner would I be if I didn't bargain for my rights?"

"Rights?" the General laughed. "You barely have the right to defecate freely, and you're discussing your rights?"

"Indeed I am. They're simple requests, I won't ask for much. But you will have so much in return. What do you say, General?"

He considered Callaghan's offer. "And what are these requests, exactly?"

"Minor things, General. You'll barely have to lift a finger. But I'm resting this all on your word, and my own. As hard-working, honest men, I humbly ask you to accept my proposal. You will learn so much, it's almost pitiful what I would like as compensation."

The General mulled it over. To stall for a bit, he commented. "You can hardly call yourself honest."

Callaghan shrugged indifferently.

He finally gave in. It was his duty as a military official to obtain any information that would benefit his country, and this seemed to him as such. He couldn't refuse. He nodded in acceptance.

Callaghan's eyes shone. "Wonderful. General, I’d like to reinstate Project: Kinetic Energy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So you made it! Congratulations, (insert name here), on slogging through over 32k words and 93 pages (according to Microsoft Word) of movie dialogue and crappy ideas! I promise, the sequel will have better writing, since I seem to write better with my own dialogue than copy-pasting. This is more like one ginormous prologue for my story. I never thought I would write this much for such a stupid, overused concept, but I did, and there will be more. Prepare for eye-meltage as yet unmatched by Aunt Cass's hot wings. Your brain will hate your eyes for reading it, and if you don't stop, there must be something seriously wrong with you. Then again, you probably figured that out when you decided to keep reading after the first of many mainstream, typical, soiled concepts out there. But, in all honesty, I'm glad you stuck with me to the end. Let me know if you want the sequel, or an extra mini-chapter explaining the meanings of titles. Till next time! Stay saucy, friends. P.S: GoGo asking Tadashi for help and Honey Lemon's honey-lemon tea are ALSO references to Different Angles. MY God man, why haven't you read it yet?


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